24: Day 1 point 5
by t-smitts
Summary: What started for me as a mission to pick up a defecting Russian arms dealer has now become a race to keep a nuclear weapon from falling into the hands of a rogue CTU agent. I am Federal Agent Matt Harper and today will be the longest day of my life.
1. 10:00 AM to 11:00 AM

24: Day 1.5

_Author's note #1: A "24" story without Jack Bauer might be blasphemy to some but I couldn't resist the idea of doing a story from another character's point of view. Several familiar characters will be present throughout the story and a few more may come and go as the story progresses. Not having to honor any sort of contractual commitment to actors means I don't have to struggle to find something for a character to do for the sake of keeping them present (as was often the case with Kim and even occasionally with Palmer) so don't be surprised if "regular" characters drop out of sight now and then. Finally, though our story's hero faces problems and dilemmas similar to Jack, he's defiantly a different kind of CTU agent than Jack. I hope he'll come to grow on you. _

_Author's note #2: Events don't quite occur in real time. Not all of us have time to plug away in front of their PC for hours on end and I'd like to get this submitted as soon as possible so I can get some feedback. _

_The following takes place between 10:00 A.M. and 11:00 A.M., ten months after the California presidential primary._

10:00:00...10:00:01...10:00:02...10:00:03...

The man took one last look at himself in the mirror, running a hand through his salt-and-pepper hair and chuckled to himself. The fact that he was concerned with neatness at such a time was not lost to him. It was simply something that been instilled in him early in life and stayed with him, through Afghanistan, through the hardliner's coup, through Chechnya, and through that fateful day he'd chosen to throw it all away.

Emerging from the motel bathroom, he saw his female companion had returned. Tatyana looked oddly out of place with her blonde hair down and the bright blouse and skirt she wore; nothing like the dark gray and brown jackets and pants the man was used to seeing her in. It had been necessary to alter their appearances at least slightly to reduce the risk of being spotted by their enemies, especially now that he was so close.

Tatyana's appearance certainly wasn't displeasing either, reminding him of the endless debate he'd had with himself whether or not to act on the attraction he knew she felt for him. Their difference in age was considerable. Not only was she young enough to be his daughter but she was, in fact, younger than his actual daughter. Still, it had been a long time since his wife's death and the handful of women he'd encountered since then always seemed to him to be missing something, a connection he could never seem to find. Tatyana understood him better than anyone but he'd always feared the complications becoming intimate with her would surely bring.

Now is not the time dwell on such things, he scolded himself. You must look to the future. "Is the car ready?" he asked in his native Russian.

Tatyana nodded. "_Da_, but I still do not know where we are going."

The man sighed. "That is because I am going alone from here."

Tatyana was not easily caught off-guard. Her training and the kind of men they'd been forced to deal with over the years ensured that. Her eyes narrowed slightly however. "I do not understand, sir."

The man smiled. This was the most affection he typically allowed himself to display to her. "Where I am going involves more danger than even we are used to. I cannot allow anyone but myself to face such risks."

Her look of confusion seemed to give way slightly to hurt. "We have faced risks together before. I left my post to remain at your side. You know I would follow you anywhere."

He looked at her intently. She would never understand how rare and precious that kind of fierce loyalty was to him. "Perhaps I had underestimated you."

An enticing smile emerged across her face as she stepped closer to him, stopping only when her faces was inches from his. "Perhaps you did."

Leaning closer, she did not see the handkerchief he pulled from his pocket until it was pressed against her face. A muffled sound emerged from under it she clutched his wrist, trying to pull his hand away, while his other hand pressed her face into the handkerchief. The fumes worked quickly and her grip on his wrist grew weaker by the second until he saw her release him completely as her hands dropped to her sides. Looking up at her face, he saw her eyes rolling back as her eyelids fluttered shut.

Lowering her gently on to the bed, he lamented that this was necessary, but he had already lost two people precious to him. The thought of losing another was unacceptable.

Pulling the plane ticket and notepad from his pocket he slipped them into her hand. Written on the notepad was the number for an account at a bank in Switzerland. He knew she'd know better than to try and look for him. She knew he couldn't be found if he didn't want to be. Hopefully she would be smart enough to be on the flight bound for Geneva tomorrow. There was enough in the account to ensure her a comfortable and relatively safe life. It might make it a bit easier to forgive him.

Debating for a moment whether or not to place a kiss on her forehead, he decided not to and walked toward the door. He allowed himself one last look at her, looking more peaceful than he'd ever seen her, before walking out of the room.

10:08:49...10:08:50...10:08:51...10:08:52

_No good deed goes unpunished_, Matt Harper thought, walking into CTU yet again on what was supposed to be his day off.

It was because of a good deed, after all, that Tony Almeida, a man Matt had been friends with since their days at Stanford, had owed Matt a favor. Tony had chosen to repay that favor by dropping Matt's name with his boss when an opening came up at CTU just over nine months ago.

Like an idiot, Matt had jumped at the job opportunity when it was offered to him. His work with the FBI simply wasn't what it used to be for him. This might offer some new challenges. It was closer to home as well and might even give him and Lauren a chance to work some things out.

That dream certainly died quickly. CTU turned out to demand more of his time than the Bureau ever had. His decision certainly hadn't gone over well with Lauren either. Things between the two of them grew steadily worse and he was living on his own within a month of taking the job. He was now lucky if he got to see Danny twice a week. His thirteenth birthday was coming up next week and after seven months of broken promises, Matt's credibility with his son was at an all-time low.

_I'll be damned if George Mason thinks he can make me miss that._

Matt's mood certainly wasn't helped when he saw George talking with the one person who could make him look better by comparison: Ryan Chappelle.

"Nice of you to join us, Matt," Chappelle said with his usual smarm, glancing at his watch.

"Not today, please, Ryan." Matt groaned, feeling the beginning of one of the headaches Chappelle seemed so adept at giving people. "When was the phone call?"

"Forty-seven minutes ago from a payphone at 93rd and Groves." said George. "We've got a guy scouting the area for all the good that'll do. I've got the new girl Michelle looking at motels in the area he might be staying at but that'll take time."

"Well keep at it." Ryan snapped. "I don't care what this son of a bitch promised us, I'd still rather bring him in on our terms and if we get a chance to do that we do."

Matt rolled his eyes. "General Andrei Marenkov, one of the biggest underground arms dealers in the word is turning himself over to us voluntarily and says he'll cooperate fully and you're actually willing to jeopardize that."

"He's got a point, Ryan."George chimed in. "I mean we've been after Marenkov for years. I might've considered trying to cash in on that reward the Russians have for him if rubles were actually worth something. Seems like a little legwork is a small price to pay to get him without any fuss."

"Well excuse me if I don't consider this a little too good to be true. This guy's been yanking our chain for days and we still don't have a clue why he's doing this now after being on the run for a decade." Ryan turned to Matt, "or better yet why he insists on you being there."

Matt sighed. They'd been over this before. "I told you. I just happened to be the guy he made contact with. I don't know why but he trusts me."

"Well lucky for the two of you, Brad Hammond at Division agrees with you, despite my recommendations. Just remember it's not my ass if this goes sour."

Matt snorted as Ryan walked away. "You know someday somebody around here's gonna end up shooting that guy."

"Forget about Chappelle. Now look, the rendezvous co-ordinates Marenkov gave us are for an apartment on 115th. Some rundown slum even roaches would be embarrassed to live in. The time he gave us was eleven sharp so you better head out as soon as you're briefed."

"No backup then?"

George shook his head. "He said if he spots anyone else he splits."

"So I guess I've got no choice."

"Nope." George said, patting Matt on the arm. "And besides which, this way, if this goes sour, it's not my ass either."

"Thanks a lot, George."

10:19:23...10:19:24...10:19:25...10:19:26...

Marenkov missed Tatyana already. Sitting alone on an unmade bed in an apartment even filthier than the motel it was five minutes' drive from, he little else to do but think. He didn't regret leaving her behind, but he realized that he was alone for the first time in years.

He and his daughter had not spoken in years, despite repeated efforts to contact her. He couldn't blame her for disowning him after the path he'd chosen. He could only hope she might forgive him after she learned he'd tried to set things right. Though Tatyana had meant much to him, Galina was his world. Fitting that he'd chosen the life he'd led because of one of his children and now he would try to atone for his actions for the sake of the other.

Marenkov didn't consider himself a paranoid man, though after several close calls over the last few weeks, being more on edge than usual might be understandable. It was because of this that he found himself standing upright at the faint sound of a creaking floorboard in the next room. One creak was simply the sign of an old and poorly maintained building. Two meant someone else was in the other room. Another creak and Marenkov found himself with his back to the wall, next to the doorframe with a gun in his hand.

As the intruder crept through the doorway, gun raised, Marenkov brought the butt of his own gun down across the man's head. With a muffled grunt he went down, dazed just long enough for Marenkov to kick his weapon away.

"Who sent you?"Marenkov asked, pointing his gun at the intruder as the man's eyes became more lucid. "Tell me or you die."

"Rozinsky." The man hissed.

_Ah, yes_, Marenkov thought. He'd thought the assailant looked familiar. He was the thug who always accompanied Rozinsky during their arms deals. His red head of hair was unmistakable.

"Rozinsky sent you?" Marenkov chuckled. "He must be getting sloppy in his old age."

"He didn't have a choice." Redhead answered. "He's not the only one after you and wanted to make sure he got to you first. Anyone with as many enemies as you have done not need to worry about old age."

"If they're anything like you, I am less than terrified."

Redhead responded with a smug grin. "Go ahead. Try to surrender to the Americans. You will not even outlive this day."

Marenkov shrugged. "I'll outlive you," and squeezed the trigger twice.

Marenkov walked across the room and picked up the discarded gun and looked back at Redhead, a look of shock in his lifeless eyes as they stared in the direction the bullets had come from. _The fool hadn't even bothered attaching a silencer_, he thought, looking at the gun. _He would have drawn the attention of at least three floors had he fired a shot._

This had been an interesting distraction, almost amusing, but he suspected that not everyone after him would be so inept.

10:31:06...10:31:07...10:31:08...10:31:09...

Justin Sloane was only a pair of glasses away from being the stereotypical computer nerd. His thin frame, slight hunch, and noticeable over bite nearly made up for that though.

That was of little concern to his employers, however, who, at the moment where standing at the other end of the room, occasionally glancing impatiently back at Justin, hunched over at the computer table, while he did his work. They were Russians, obviously, and their attitudes were not to their nation's credit. The taller light-haired one had been addressed as Dimitri by the shorter dark-haired one, who in turn had answered to Alexi. Justin didn't speak a word of Russian, and for once, he wasn't sorry about that, given the tone the two were conversing in.

Justin could read between the lines sufficiently to tell that Alexi was the one in charge, while Dimitri, being nearly a head taller and at least fifty pounds heavier, was the muscle. He wasn't actually that much bigger than average but standing next to the shorter Alexi certainly helped the illusion. Whatever they were talking about, it wasn't patiently, and Justin shuddered when Alexi briefly pointed in his direction.

_I should have known twenty grand for a simple programming job was too good to be true. The second I'm finished, I'm outta here._

Alexi started walking over to Justin and it was all he could do to keep his hands from shaking. "How are you coming?" he asked icily.

Justin quickly typed in one last code, the turned to Alexi. "Uhhh... that should just about do it. Signal scrambler's working fine so you won't to worry about anyone tracing you. It'll go straight to the phone and nowhere else. Whatever you guys got planned you won't need to worry about anyone crashing your party line." He chuckled nervously, getting up as Alexi sat down to look at the screen.

"So listen," Justin began, slowly edging away from Alexi, "since I'm pretty much done here, ummm, maybe I should just take my money and get out of your hair, let you guys do whatever you're gonna do."

Alexi looked up at him and gave him gave a smile. Justin couldn't decide if it made him less worried or more.

"Certainly." Alexi said. "I'll take care of that immediately."

Justin tried smiling. "And..and you won't need to worry about any problems with the system. I checked. Everything's clear. I've worked on stuff more complicated than this."

Alexi got up, putting a had one the young man's shoulder, continuing to smile. "Yes, you seem to know a great deal about what you're doing."

For the first time in two hours, Justin's heart stopped threatening to beat it's way out of his chest. Maybe this was going to work out after all.

Alexi's smile suddenly grew cold. "A little too much, I'm afraid."

Justin had no idea when the knife had been drawn or when it was raised. He only noticed it when it passed across his throat, blood spilling out in its wake. Justin tried to scream but found he couldn't and collapsed to the ground instead. Darkness claimed him seconds later.

* * *

Dimitri and Alexi stood over the young man's corpse, looking at the growing pool of blood forming around him.

Alexi sighed. "I supposed I should have done that somewhere else. It's going to leave a mess now."

"It's not a concern." Dimitri looked at his watch. "Sergei should be delivering the phone by now. Everything's going according to plan."

Alexi glared at the body, then at Dimitri. "It had better stay that way. Have someone dispose of that and let me know when Sergei has delivered the phone. I'm going to go get her ready for the call."

10:48:12...10:48:13...10:48:14...10:48:15...

The ringing of the phone startled George and he realized with embarrassment that he'd been starting to doze off. Looking around his office, a flight of stairs up from the rest of his staff, he was relieved no one was around to see him. _Times like these, I wish Walsh was still alive. I'd rather have him handling this Marenkov mess than me._

Richard Walsh, George's predecessor as head of CTU, had been killed in the line of duty while investigating a conspiracy to assassinate then-Senator David Palmer. George had been brought in only hours after his death.

_Lucky me. I got to inherit Jack Bauer, Nina Myers, and the murder of a half dozen people, including Jack's wife, all on my watch. I was supposed to be working in D.C. by now!_

Shaking himself out of his brief moment of self-pity, he picked up the phone. "Yeah, what is it?"

One of the younger staff members, a kid who's name escaped George at the moment, responded in a slightly nasal voice. "Sir, there's a Doug Mason on the phone for you."

_Perfect. This is _just _what I need right now._ "Thanks. I got it." George leaned back in his chair and steeled himself. "Hey, dad. How are you doing?"

There was a brief pause before Doug Mason's voice emerged from the receiver. "I'm good, George. I'm good. How are you doing? Obviously you're still running CTU. How's that working for you?"

George rolled his eyes. His father had barely been present for most of his life and his recent attempts to ingratiate himself on his son, now that George was a middle-aged man, were less than endearing. "CTU's fine. I'm fine. Umm listen this...isn't the best time to talk. We're kind of in the middle of something here."

"Oh sorry. I was just in town for the while. I might be moving the city. I think I've had enough of Ventura."

George sat up. "Wait, dad, when did you move back to Ventura? I thought you were still living in Riverside?"

There was silence on Doug's end of the phone. "Oh. Did I say Ventura? I meant Riverside. Sorry. Anyway, I'd really like to see you today if you could spare a few minutes."

"Dad, did you not hear me say I was busy with something?" George responded, betraying his thinning patience. "You'd think the term Counter Terrorism Unit would be a good indicator that I don't work regular hours. Look I'll see about but I can't do anything today, all right?"

"Oh well, I'm so sorry to take up your precious time." the voice on the other end snapped. _Great, now he's pissed_. George thought. "Excuse me for wanting to see my son for a few minutes!"

"You had forty years to see me. Don't give me that." George snapped "Now I said I'm busy. I'll talk to you later!" He hung up the phone before his father could give him any more grief.

A second the phone rang again. "What?" George barked into the receiver.

"George, it's Tony. Matt's coming up on Marenkov's hideout."

George sighed. "All right. I'm coming." George shook his head in frustration. _What else can go wrong today?_

10:54:35...10:54:36...10:54:37...10:54:38...

The ringing of the phone startled Marenkov and he realized with embarrassment that he'd been starting to doze off. A second later came the realization that he had no phone. Where was the ringing coming from? Walking around, he finally found the source sitting on an open window sill in the from room.

_Clearly, this wasn't there before _was the first thing that went through Marenkov's head. It was unlikely it belonged to Redhead either, since he wouldn't have bother the stop and put down his phone. Someone must have snuck up the fire escape and planted it. It meant people were aware of his location. On the other hand, if whoever knew of his location wanted him dead, he'd probably would be, unless they were as incompetent as Rozinsky and his people.

Which means I'm probably safe indulging my curiosity and answering the phone. Marenkov pressed SEND and instantly a face he knew appeared on the screen.

"Alexi, what do you want?"

The short dark-haired Russian on the screen smiled. "Andrei, is that any way to treat an old friend?"

"No but it's better treatment than you deserve." Marenkov glared coldly.

"Andrei, please. I always enjoyed our friendly competition. Something troubles me, however. I've heard you are trying to surrender to the Americans. Is this true? Would you really throw away your talents and resources like that?"

"I do not have to explain myself to you!" Marenkov hissed.

"Maybe not you are valuable to be wasted on them. I want to come work for me. Your contacts with both buyers and sellers would be invaluable."

Marenkov chuckled quietly. "You can't truly believe I would ever work for you."

Alexi offered a cold smile, the same one he'd give someone else recently. "I think you might, if I had the right leverage." Alexi took a step back and to the side, revealing a young woman. Though her hair and clothes looked somewhat disheveled, she had a rather attractive slight figure and features, though they were difficult to see at the moment, as she was tied to a chair and gagged.

_Galina! No!_ Marenkov hoped the color wasn't draining from his face as much as he felt. "Alexi, you bastard! I swear I-"

"...will do exactly as I say if you want your daughter to live." Alexi interrupted loudly, before smiling again. "You will get to the corner of 109th and Hosmer within forty minutes. From there you will be called with further instructions or she dies."

The screen was close enough for Marenkov to see his daughter, her eyes wide with terror as a muffled cry emerged from beneath the gag.

"Stop! Stop!" Marenkov cried, his eyes as close to tears as he had ever known. "I will do what you want just don't hurt her."

Alexi leaned in close so his face filled the frame. "Get going now, and don't try to contact the authorities or else!" Alexi leaned over to push a button off to the side and the screen went blank.

Marenkov steadied his legs, which he'd just realized now were shaking. _No time to be paralyzed now. I must do what I can for her._

* * *

Matt climbed the last flight of stairs, bringing his phone up to him. "George, Tony, I'm at Marenkov hiding place, apartment 42."

"All right, be careful." George's voice was heard saying on the other end.

A doorbell clung to the graffiti-covered walls by a pair of fraying wires. This left only the door to knock.

Matt rapped his hands against the door. "It's Matt Harper. I'm here to pick you up." No answer. From inside the apartment, Matt head the sound of something heavy hitting a metal grate. Someone on the fire escape, perhaps? _Oh, hell._

Matt stepped back, then slammed his foot against the door, which swung open with a crack. He rushed to the front room window, and leaned out in time to a man with salt-and-pepper hair jump off the bottom rung of the fire escape and sprint towards a grey SUV in the parking lot.

_Damn. For a guy in his fifties, he can run._ "George, Marenkov's making a run for it! I'm in pursuit!"

Matt overheard George released a handful of profanities as he raced down the fire escape. By the time, he reached the ground, Marenkov's vehicle had sped off, leaving him to run for his own SUV.

Matt brought the car around, speeding off in Marenkov's direction. All the while, he tried to focus on keeping up with Marenkov and ingnore the nagging question of why the man would go to the trouble of revealing his location only to run when Matt showed up.

_Something doesn't add up here, and I'm going to find out what!_

10:59:57...10:59:58...10:59:59...11:00:00...


	2. 11:00 AM to 12:00 PM

24: Day 1.5

_Previously in 24: Day 1.5..._

_CTU agent MATT HARPER was assigned to bring in a Russian general-turned arms dealer who was offering to surrender himself to American authorities. However just before Harper arrived, the arms dealer, ANDREI MARENKOV, received a phone call from former competitors of his. Marenkov was told his daughter was being held hostage and he must surrender himself to them if he wanted her to live. Marenkov fled just as Harper reached him. Unaware of what was happening, Harper hurried off in pursuit..._

_The following takes place between 11:00 A.M. and 12:00 P.M._

11:00:00...11:00:01...11:00:02...11:00:03...

The two SUV's tore down the road, well over the speed limit, darting in between cars, and earning a succession of honks as they passed by.

Matt spared just enough concentration from driving to contact CTU.

"_Matt, it's Tony._" The voice emerged from the car's speaker-phone. "_Where are you?_"

"I'm right behind Marenkov, heading down 115th. He's trying to lose me in the traffic, but I'm still on him. He's driving a tan colored Ford Explorer."

"_I'll try and see if I can get the police to clear the way for you._"

* * *

George shook his head at the phone while Tony relayed updated on Matt's position. This was just perfect. With Matt, things were supposed to go by the numbers. _This is the kind of thing that happened with Jack Bauer, not Matt. Chappelle's never gonna let me hear the end of this._

George snapped himself out of his usual funk. He could drown his frustrations in a beer or two later. Right now he had a job to do.

"Michelle," he said, turning to the young woman a few stations over from Tony. "Contact Patrick and Lily. Get them in here. If Marenkov leaves the city, we'll need them on this one."

11:04:17... 11:04:18... 11:04:19... 11:04:20...

Had anyone known the truth, it would have been unnecessary to call Patrick Hennessy and Lily Cohen separately, as they were not only both in the same room at the time, but the same bed as well.

Lily, being the lighter sleeper, noticed her phone ringing first. Picking it up, one of the newer CTU staff members on the other end was telling her something had come up in the Marenkov affair and they need her to come in.

Turning the lump of a young man sleeping next to her, she began pushing gently, earning some annoyed mumbling in response.

"Come on, Pat. Work just called me in and you probably about to call you too."

Patrick rolled his eyes as soon as he had rubbed the sleep out of them. Even his parents, God rest their souls, hadn't called him Pat and the few kids in elementary school who did usually ran away in tears with a nosebleed. When Lily did it however, somehow it didn't seem so bad.

Sure enough, his phone began ringing a second later. While Patrick made a futile attempt to get out of going to work, Lily put on her housecoat and headed to the hotel's bathroom for a shower.

Taking a moment to glance at him before turning on the water she couldn't help but laugh. Two months ago she'd written him off as a pesky Irish kid who wouldn't take no for an answer. Getting involved with someone at work was the last thing she'd ever consider, especially after the stories she'd heard about that Nina Myers woman. For an intelligence agency, CTU was a surprisingly poor place to keep a secret, especially about the personal lives of one's co-workers.

It was after having been set with yet another loser by one of her friends that she finally decided to look for someone herself. Against her better judgement she'd decided to finally give Patrick a chance.

Lily smiled. _I guess people can surprise you._

11:10:39... 11:10:40... 11:10:41... 11:10:42...

Driving through city streets at the speeds they were was starting to worry Matt. _It doesn't matter how good drivers we are_, he thought. _Sooner or later someone's going to_-

The sound of screeching tires jolted Matt as a small blue pickup truck darted out of a side street and slammed into the passenger side of Marenkov's SUV. The SUV was shoved away a few feet and the right wheels came up. For a split second, Matt thought the car would tip over but it then righted itself.

Both drivers staggered of their vehicles. The truck's driver, a thin goateed man of no more than twenty-five, glared at the crumpled, rusted front of his vehicle than turned his gaze at Marenkov. Blood was dripping from a cut on his forehead though he didn't seem to notice.

"Wh-what's the matter with you?" the younger man grumbled, his words slurred considerably.

Marenkov glanced his own car, the passenger side completely caved in, and grunted loudly. "Idiot American drunk drivers!"

As Matt brought his own car to a halt, a middle-aged black man stepped out of a grey Sable behind the truck and rushed over to the two men, giving both a concerned look. "Are you two all right?"

While the younger man began giving a half-hearted explanation how Marenkov had come out of nowhere, Marenkov spotted Matt heading towards him. Immediately, he drew his gun, pulled the Sable driver to him, and pressed the gun against his head.

Matt quickly raised his own weapon. "Let him go, Andrei!"

Marenkov looked at the terrified man then back att Matt and shook his head. "_Nyet!_ Lower your weapon or I will kill him!"

Matt didn't move. "What are you doing, Andrei? You came all this way and now you're running away. Why?"

Marenkov looked pained for a moment, then steeled himself. "I can't explain. You must trust me it is imperative that I must go!"

Matt shook his head, still pointing his weapon at Marenkov. "I can't let you do that."

Marenkov's eyes widened and pressed the gun harder against the man's head, who let out a small cry, his eyes widened with fear. "I will shoot him!" Marenkov barked.

Matt cursed inside his head, gritted his teeth and lowered his weapon. There was no way he was bringing in Marenkov right now.

Marenkov loosened his grip on the man but kept his grip on him. "Get back to your vehicle." He gestured towards the Sable.

The younger driver just stood there, staring with glazed eyes as Marenkov followed the middle-aged driver back to his car. He glanced back at Matt for a moment. "If I see you or anyone else following me," he gestured back at the Sable driver, who was carefully getting into his car, "he will die."

Marenkov jumped into the back of the Sable as it maneuvered around the two wrecked vehicles, turned onto the main road and drove off. Matt kept his eye on the car's licence plate for as long as he could see it, then rushed back to his SUV.

* * *

George picked up the phone before it's first ring had gone through. He already knew who it was.

"_George, it's Matt. Another car collided with Marenkov's vehicle. He took a civilian hostage and commandeered their car. It's a grey Sable, licence number AIN 393. Last I saw, he was still going down 115th. He said if he catches anyone following him, he'll kill the hostage._"

George let out a rather large sigh. "All right, get back here. We'll need you monitoring with the rest of us."

Moments later walked down the steps from his office, feeling about a hundred pounds heavier than he was. He didn't give Tony or Michelle Dessler, one of the newer CTU staff members, a particularly friendly look when they approached him.

"George, we think we might have an idea on what Marenkov's doing." Tony began.

George looked at the two of them. "What, you mean some _good_ news accidentally got slipped in here for a change?" Michelle, not yet used to George's sarcasm, looked slightly taken aback but George raised his hand. "Sorry. What have you got?"

Michelle nodded. "We just got a profile from Division on _another_ Russian arms dealer named Alexi Lenkovich. Apparently, he was heading west through Canada just over a week ago. He was spotted in a train station in Vancouver five days ago."

George looked suspiciously at her. "You think he might have headed south, snuck across the border?" _Division knew this guy could be coming here and Ryan didn't say anything? That arrogant son of a-_

"There's more." Michelle went on. "Lenkovich has been one of Marenkov's chief rivals for years. Lenkovich arranged at least two assassination attempts against Marenkov. He's also known for kidnaping rivals and their families."

Tony leaned in closer. "George, a week ago, Marenkov's daughter was reported missing from her home in Paris."

George paused a moment. "You're saying you think Lenkovich kidnaped Marenkov's daughter to get to him? It would explain what Marenkov's doing but why Lenkovich do that in the first place? You'd think he be happy to see Marenkov surrender. Means he'd be out of the business."

Tony gave a facial shrug. "Maybe he wants the information Marenkov was offering us. If Lenkovich has Marenkov's daughter, that's gotta be where Marenkov's headed. If we can find Lenkovich maybe we can find Marenkov."

George nodded. "Get on it. I'm gonna call Division." His voice grew more and more sarcastic. "I'll see what else they didn't think we _needed_ to know."

11:31:54... 11:31:55... 11:31:56... 11:31:57...

Dimitri Simonov stared impatiently at the monitor. The image on the screen was of a seldom-used parking lot at the edge of a small city park. He glanced down at his watched and didn't see Alexi Lenkovich approaching.

Dimitri jumped back in his chair when he looked up and saw Alexi, causing Alexi to chuckle. "You startled me."

Alexi smiled. "Then you shouldn't let yourself get distracted."

Dimitri looked back down at the monitor. "Do you think he'll make it? He has less than ten minutes"

Alexi glanced down at he monitor, the turned away, chuckling. "Marenkov would do anything for his daughter. Trust me on that."

11:38:21... 11:38:22... 11:38:23... 11:38:24...

The Sable had been eerily quiet for the last twenty minutes or so. With no instructions from Marenkov, the driver assumed he wanted to keep going straight.

Marenkov, still sitting in the back seat holding his gun, caught a glimpse of a street sign and finally broke the silence. "Turn left here."

"Yeah, right" the driver responded, turning the wheel. Save for the fact that his breathing was a bit louder than normal, the man seemed remarkably calm.

Marenkov was impressed. "Don't worry." He said softly. "Just follow my instructions and I give you my word you will not be harmed."

The man gave Marenkov a glance in the rear-view mirror and nodded.

Marenkov smiled. "For what it's worth, I am sorry you were involved in this. If it helps, I can tell you this is not part of some act of terrorism or a robbery. I am trying to save the life of someone I care for very deeply."

The driver looked at Marenkov in the mirror again. "Family?"

Marenkov smiled. This fellow was surprisingly thoughtful. "What's your name?"

The driver paused a moment, probably not sure if he wanted be exchanging names with a man who'd kidnaped him at gunpoint. "Paul. Paul Garrett"

"You are a very insightful man, Mr. Garrett. The person I am trying to help is my daughter" Marenkov took a deep breath. Telling the man this was probably not a good idea but at the moment, he needed to confide in someone, anyone.

"What happened to her?"

"A man I once had misfortune of dealing with has taken her hostage. Presumably he wants to enlist my services for his own benefit."

"You were on your way to meet him when that truck hit you."

"_Da_. He said if I did not reach my destination at the correct time, he would kill her. I know this man well. He is not bluffing."

"Why didn't you call the cops?"

Marenkov chuckled. "Ironically, going to the authorities was precisely what I intended to do before I learned he had her, though that is another story completely. I cannot take any chances though. I must do as he says. I cannot risk any harm coming to my Galina." His eyes began to grow misty. "Everything I have done has been for her. She is my world."

Paul looked down, lost in thought for a second. "I have a daughter. Two of them actually. I don't know what I do if some sick bastard got his hands on them."

Marenkov nodded. "Our species may have advanced a great deal but we can be surprisingly feral when our young are threatened."

"Amen to that." Paul whispered.

Marenkov spotted another street sign. "Turn in here!"

Paul turned the car into a small parking lot and put it in park. There were no other cars or people in sight.

Paul looked around. "What now?"

Marenkov began glancing around himself. "I don't know. I was only told to come here."

A second later, his phone began to ring. He flipped it open and responded immediately. "Yes?"

"_Very good, Andrei. Some of my people didn't think you'd make it on time._"

"Where is my daughter, Alexi?" Marenkov hissed.

"_She is safe for moment. From where you are, get to 93rd and Vaughan by ten minutes after twelve._"

Marenkov recoiled from the phone and looked at it for a second, before returning it to his ear. "What? What is going on, Alexi? Where is my daughter?"

"_Patience, Andrei. We have to make sure you're not being followed first._" Alexi responded curtly. "_93rd and Vaughan by ten after twelve or your daughter pays the price for your stupidity!_" Alexi hung up.

Marenkov looked at the phone and began sputtering a jumble of words in his native tongue. Paul didn't speak a word of Russian but he suspected the words his passenger was saying weren't ones to be repeated in front of children or clergy.

Marenkov looked up at Paul. "We have to get to 93rd and Vaughan by ten after twelve. Hurry!"

Paul nodded, put the car back in drive, and sped off. _93rd and Vaughan in thirty minutes? _Paul thought. _I'm gonna need a miracle._

Neither Paul nor Marenkov noticed the patrol car watching them.

11:51:06... 11:51:07... 11:51:08... 11:51:09...

"_Agent Harper?_"

Matt sighed. Not even the drive back to CTU offered him a moment's peace. "Yes?"

"_I have your wife on hold._"

_Lauren?_ "Put her through, Ray."

"_Matt?_" Her voice sounded a bit shaken.

"Lauren, what's wrong?" _Please don't let this be about Danny, _he thought.

"_Danny got hurt at school. Apparently he slipped and fell down a flight of stairs._"

Matt's pulse began to quicken. "Is he all right?"

"_Apparently his arm was hurt pretty bad. They took him to hospital. I'm there now. We don't know anything yet._"

Matt loosened his grip on the steering wheel, just noticing how tightly he'd been gripping it. "I'll be there as soon as I can. It might be a while though."

"_It would really make him feel better to see his father._"

"I promise will be there as soon as I can." He said, a bit more firmly this time. _Please don't start something now._

He heard a sigh on the other end. "All right. Just please come soon." A beep signaled she'd hung up. _Short and abrupt, like all my conversations with her lately._

Matt rolled his eyes when the phone rang again. "_Matt, it's Tony. A police cruiser spotted the car Marenkov's riding in. It's not far from where you are. He's headed up Vaughan now. They just passed 98th Street._"

Matt steeled himself as best he could. Marenkov may have warned against anyone following him but wherever he was going, he was in a hurry and wasn't going to stop to kill the hostage. "I'm on my way. I can get over there within five minutes."

11:57:20... 11:57:21... 11:57:22... 11:57:23...

Paul spotted the red and blue lights first. "Looks like we got some friends."

Marenkov spun around. At least three police vehicles, sirens wailing, were trailing the car. A fourth vehicle Marenkov recognized as the car Agent Harper was driving. _Damn. He does not seem to know when to quit._

Looking ahead, Marenkov saw his luck was even worse than he'd thought. A set of train tracks cut across the road. The crossing lights where flashing as the barriers began to lower. To his right, he could see a massive diesel engine with at least thirty cars behind it lumbering towards the intersection. _We will never make it in time._

* * *

Matt had managed to get in a signal to the police cruisers. "All right, he's slowing down for the train. When he stops, I'll approach first. He still got a hostage so no sudden movements."

* * *

Marenkov gave Paul a tired look. "Looks like you'll be getting out of this sooner than expected." he said, wistfully. _I'm sorry I failed you, Galina._

Paul was silent for a moment, then turned around to face Marenkov. "Everything you said about your daughter was true? You're trying to get to her to save her?"

Marenkov paused for a moment. "She's my world."

Paul licked his lips, then turned around. "Hang on!"

* * *

From a hundred feet away, Matt saw the Sable pick up speed. _Son of a bitch!_

"He's making a run for it!" Matt shouted into the receiver. "Try to stop them before they reach the tracks!"

He knew it was pointless, however. The Sable already had too great a lead. _Dammit, Andrei! You're just gonna kill yourself and this guy!_ Matt forced himself not to turn away as the car sped towards the tracks.

Darting around the barriers, it cut in front of the train, missing the 130-ton engine literally by inches.

Matt finally allowed himself to exhale, bringing his SUV to a stop. Opening the door and leaning out, he watched from between the freight cars as the Sable sped off into the distance...

11:59:57... 11:59:58... 11:59:59... 12:00:00...


	3. 12:00 PM to 1:00 PM

24: Day 1.5

_Previously in 24: Day 1.5..._

_A Russian arms dealer named ANDREI MARENKOV had offered to surrender himself to CTU when he received a phone call from ALEXI LENKOVICH, a former competitor, saying he'd taken Marenkov's daughter hostage. Just as CTU agent MATT HARPER arrived to pick Marenkov up, he fled, highjacking a car and taking the driver, PAUL GARRETT, hostage. While the CTU staff, led by GEORGE MASON tracked down information on Lenkovich, Matt followed Marenkov for as long as could, before losing him..._

_The following takes place between 12:00 P.M. and 1:00 P.M._

12:00:00...12:00:01...12:00:02...12:00:03...

Patrick waited a few minutes after Lily had walked in to enter CTU himself. Lily had said she didn't really want everyone at work knowing about her personal life, so he figured coming in at the same time might give them some unnecessary ammo. He wasn't sure why she'd rolled her eyes when he suggested it.

To his right, he heard a phone ringing and quickly recognized the voice answering.

"Almeida. Matt, what happened?" Patrick heard a sigh. "Could you see which way they were going? All right, hang on. I'll transfer you to Mason." Tony looked up and spotted Patrick. "Patrick, look, there's been complications with the Marenkov meet. Michelle's bringing Lily up to speed. Go see her. After that I'll need you on communication."

Patrick nodded. "Yeah, sure."

* * *

George was seriously wondering if getting this many headaches was life-threatening.

"All right. Get back here. We might have a lead on why Marenkov's doing what he's doing. I'll need you on it"

Massaging his forehead, he stepped out of his office and walked downstairs. Maybe someone would give him and an excuse to berate the staff. It wasn't that great for morale but it'd probably be therapeutic for him.

"Tony, any intel yet on this Lenkovich character anyway? Any word on how this guy got into the country?"

"I'm getting some back from Division on that now. I've got Jeff working looking property bought by any foreigners in the last months that would make a good hideout."

"So in other words, we've got squat for the moment."

Tony sighed. "Every cop in the city's still got the make and licence plate of Marenkov's car. We're gonna find him."

George rolled his eyes. "In the meantime, the guy that was supposed to be surrendering to us this morning's making us look like fools."

* * *

Andrei Marenkov felt like a fool.

He'd been ready to give up on his daughter when cornered by the authorities, but this man he'd known for less than an hour, a man he'd abducted at gunpoint, had shown more courage than he had. He was willing to risk his life when Marenkov had been prepared to give up and leave his daughter for dead.

It was then that Marenkov realized he hadn't said a word to the driver, Paul Garrett, since their daring escape from the police minutes earlier. He'd been lost in his thoughts.

"I do not know what to say. My daughter might have been killed had you not done that."

Paul sighed and offered a small smile. "Yeah well, I didn't want her death on my conscience."

Marenkov nodded solemnly. "When all this is over. You must tell the authorities that everything you did I forced you to do. I would hate to see anything happen to you for helping me."

"Why don't we just worry about getting your daughter back for now? We're almost at 93rd and Vaughan."

12:08:36...12:08:37...12:08:38...12:08:39...

Paul looked around the area, stopping at the intersection. "Look, there's another empty lot. I'm betting that's where they want us."

Marenkov couldn't help but smile as Paul pulled the car into the parking lot. "Us?"

The brief moment of levity lasted only a few seconds before Marenkov's phone began to ring.

* * *

"Time to spare, Andrei, and without a policeman in sight" Alexi chuckled into his phone, while Dimitri watched impatiently. "It's amazing what you can do with the right motivation, no?"

"_Spare me._" Marenkov voice rasped from the receiver. "_I have done as you asked. I want to speak to my daughter._"

"Patience, Andrei. One last stop to make and then the two of you will be reunited."

"_Nyet_!" Marenkov hissed. "_I speak to her now!_"

The smile on Alexi's face faded. "You are in no position to be making demands. You will speak to her when I say-"

A short been emerged from the receiver, signifying that the caller on the other end had hung up.

Alexi looked at the phone and raised an eyebrow. "He's got nerve. I'll give him that."

Dimitri fixed his gaze on Alexi. "We've a long way to get him. We can't afford things to go wrong now. Just let him talk to her."

Alexi glared at Dimitri, then back at the phone.

* * *

The thirty seconds between the time Marenkov hung up the phone and the time it rung again were, by far, the longest in his life.

"_Very well, Andrei._" Alexi said. "_You may have a moment._"

The image on the phone's screen panned from Alexi to the young woman being led into the room by Dimitri, a firm grip on her right arm.

"Galina?" Marenkov asked, his voice dangerously close to breaking.

"_Father?_" The small, feminine voice responded.

Marenkov sighed. "Galina, _moy dushyenka_! All you all right? Have they hurt you?"

"_I'm fine. I'm so glad to hear your voice. Father..._" He heard a trembling in her voice as she took a breath. "_I'm so afraid._"

"Do not worry. I'll will get you out of there. You have my word."

A faint, hopeful smile crept over Galina's face "_I love you, father._"

Before Marenkov could respond, the image panned back to Alexi. "_All right, Andrei. You know she's safe. Now if you want to keep your word, you will get to the lot at 43 Ganton Street within forty-five minutes._"

The screen went blank and Marenkov looked up at Paul, noticing his worried look for the first time.

Marenkov stared at Paul. "Do you know where Ganton street is?"

Paul nodded. "Yeah. That's down by the docks. It's gonna be a bit of a drive."

Marenkov leaned back in his seat. "We have less than forty-five minutes."

12:19:16... 12:19:17... 12:19:18... 12:19:19...

If Matt Harper was a less focused man he might considered this insult to injury. Marenkov had managed to elude him for the second time. Now, also for the second time today, he'd walked into CTU and had to see Ryan Chappelle waiting for him. This time, however, he was in no mood to get any grief from the man. He was more in the mood to give some out.

"Matt, you're just in time." The smirk on George's face as he walked into the conference room was the closest he'd ever seen to a smile from the man. "I was just about to ask Mr. Chappelle here why Division neglected to inform us there was _another_ Russian arms dealer in the city."

Matt nodded in agreement. "Tony briefed me on the way back here. So what's the deal, Ryan?"

Chappelle glared at Matt. "I don't have to explain myself to you."

George shook his head. "No, you can explain to Paul Garrett's wife how her husband was taken hostage because we sent a field agent in to pick Marenkov without sufficient knowledge of the situation!"

Chappelle shifted his glare to George. "I had orders from Brad Hammond to keep quiet on this, just like he had orders not to let anyone find out about this. Apparently, there were already people looking for Lenkovich."

"Not hard enough, obviously." Matt raised an eyebrow. "That's why you didn't want to grab up Marenkov on his schedule, wasn't it? You were afraid something like this might happen if we didn't him up as soon as possible. You couldn't just order us not get to him. Too many people already knew about it and Marenkov wouldn't trust anyone but me. But the longer we waited meant more time for Alexi Lenkovich to get to him. Am I wrong?"

Chappelle squared his jaw and said nothing.

Matt cocked his head slightly to the side. "I know Division thought it could save face by keeping quiet about this but the damage has already been done. Now I need whatever you've got on Lenkovich if we're gonna have any of grabbing these guys up."

Chappelle's eyes widened. "Did you hear what I just said about being under orders?"

"Yeah, and I really don't care. This is what happens when agencies don't keep each other in the loop: innocent people get put in danger. Now the longer we stand here arguing, the more likely we are to lose our chance of finding either of them."

George fixed a gaze on Chappelle. "And I'm not sending any of my people out in the field again without being fully appraised of the situation. And something tells me Lenkovich isn't gonna stick around long once he gets Marenkov!" Matt suppressed a smile. _Even a guy like George Mason can have his moments._

Chappelle took a deep breath, then walked over to a terminal, punching in his access code. A grainy-looking photograph popped up on the screen of Alexi Lenkovich at a table outside a café speaking to another man. The second man was thinner and simply dressed. His five o'clock shadow and nervous look suggested someone who wasn't ideal to do business with. Neither George nor Chappelle noticed the glimmer of recognition on Matt's face when he looked at the man.

"This was taken two days ago at a café on 43rd street. The other man in the picture is Marcus Reynolds. He deals in real estate and has prior arrests for fraud and receiving stolen property."

"I heard about that case when I was at the bureau." Matt said, finally bringing himself to speak up. "Some of the agents I worked with were investigating him. He ended up cutting a deal to testify against some of his former clients and walked."

George raised his eyebrows. "If Lenkovich is the kind of person he dealt with, I would have thought he'd be begging for witness protection."

Matt shook his head. "For Reynolds, maintaining his businesses was his life. He wouldn't have been able to do that if he went into hiding. He probably went right back to his old tricks after the State's Attorneys were done with him."

"You're probably right." Chappelle said. "Only this time, he might not have been so lucky. Nobody's seen or heard from him since this photo was taken, and there's no shortage of people who wanted this guy dead."

"Wait, wait. Let's get this straight." said George. "So this Reynolds guy is in real estate, deals with shady characters, and is spotted having lunch with Lenkovich. I'm gonna take a wild stab and guess you think Reynolds found Lenkovich a hideout."

Chappelle nodded. "We raided Reynolds' house and found somebody had beat us to it. The place was ransacked, his hard drive had been stolen, and there wasn't a trace of anything useful."

"Where's his house?" Matt asked.

Chappelle gave Matt an annoyed look. "I just said they didn't find anything."

Matt nodded. "Yeah. _They_ didn't. But I was an investigator with the Bureau for thirteen years. Maybe I can find something they missed, now where is it?"

Chappelle rolled his eyes. "13445 Dover Bay."

"I want a heads up the second you find anything" said George as Matt rushed out of the room.

George gave Chappelle a smirk. "And you thought Jack Bauer was a pain in the ass."

12:21:49... 12:21:50... 12:21:51... 12:21:52...

George walked out of the conference room in a better mood than he was used to. Walking over to Lily's station he found himself feeling lighter than normal.

"Lily, I need you to look up everything you can on a Marcus Reynolds. Any property he owns, anything he sold recently, things like that. I think Michelle and Patrick can handle looking for Marenkov themselves."

Lily paused then gave a somewhat awkward smile. "Uhhh... right, right. Yeah, I think Patrick should be able to... to manage that. I think he's ready."

George gave her an odd look. "Well it's nice to know you have so much faith in him."

"Uhhh... right. Well, I'd better get on that."

George walked away, catching in the corner of his eye the glance Lily sent in Patrick's direction. _Great. Another office romance._ He thought. _Those always go over well here._

12:27:59... 12:28:00... 12:28:01... 12:28:02...

Reynolds' house turned out to be much closer than Matt expected.

Pushing past the yellow tape over the door he found Chappelle hadn't been kidding. Furniture had been strewn around, appliances smashed, the carpet torn up. _Maybe I shouldn't have ridden Danny so hard about how his room looked,_ Matt thought

Given how thorough the intruders had been in their destruction of Marcus' home, it's likely they would have found anything worth looking for. But then again maybe not, Matt thought as he entered the bathroom.

A sea of pills and vitamins from opened bottles covered the tiled floor, as did the shower curtain, torn from the rings that had held it up. Even cover for the back of the toilet lay across the floor.

Matt knelt down on the floor, crushing several pills as he did so. Looking down at the back of the toilet, he saw something the intruders had likely missed. He'd just barely noticed it himself. A small plastic box cutter was stuck to the back of the toilet with two pieces of duct tape. _What could this be for?_

Matt thought back to his conversations over lunch with Phil and Jim. What was it they'd told him about the raid on Reynolds' old house? Looking at the stained tiles in the shower reminded him.

Matt began tapping his fingers on each one, every tile seemed to make the same noise.

Everyone but the one just to the right of the shower nozzle.

Opening the blade on the box cutter, Matt dug it in to the spackle around the tile until it came free, revealing a small hole only a few inches wide and less than a foot deep. Inside was a rolled up piece of paper, the edges faded from water seeping through. Matt opened it up and read it.

* * *

"Mason."

"_George, it's Matt. I found something at Reynolds' house. It's a list of names with addresses next to them. I think it was his list of clients._"

George perked up at this. "Is Lenkovich on there?"

"_He is. The address is 697 Travis Road._"

"Travis? That's in an industrial area. There aren't any houses around there."

"_I know. It's probably a warehouse. Get a team ready, George and find out what you can about layout. I'm heading over there now._"

"All right but wait for the team to come in. We don't know how many people Lenkovich has with him."

"_Got it. I'm on my way._"

George hung up the phone and chuckled. _He shows up Chappelle twice today and actually listens to me when I give him instruction? Maybe Harper's not such a bad addition here after all._

12:46:23... 12:46:24... 12:46:25... 12:46:26...

"_Is Marenkov there yet?_" The voice on the other end asked.

"Not yet." Alexi answered into the phone. "He'll arrive within the hour. We'll begin extracting the information the moment he gets here."

"_Good. I want to be informed the second you get what you want. By now it's likely that CTU knows he's meeting with you, which means they'll be looking for you as well as him. Time is not our friend today._" The voice said.

"You really these CTU people could figure it out that quickly?"

"_These people are very good at what they do. Trust me on that. Have you told any of your people the truth yet?_"

"_Nyet._ They know nothing."

"_Good. Keep it that way. I don't want to take a chance that some of them will react badly._"

Alexi swallowed. "Most of these men have been with me for years. They are loyal. I don't care to abuse their trust."

"_Loyalty is overrated. Trust me on that as well. Besides which, if you keep to the plan, you'll have more money than another decade of arms dealing will get you. But that's only if things continue on schedule, so make sure they do._"

Alexi nodded solemnly. "I understand. It will be done." It was only after he hung up the phone that noticed Dimitri standing there, an unusually calm look on his face.

Dimitri smiled slightly. "Now I've startled you."

A look of impatience covered Alexi's face. "What do you want?"

Dimitri handed Alexi a piece of paper. "Vladimir has been building a list of Marenkov's known clients, particularly ones we'll want to contact soon when we get back to Europe."

Alexi nodded curtly "Fine, fine. Is there anything else?"

Dimitri shrugged innocently. "Not at all." He began to walk away, then paused. "Who was that, anyway?"

Alexi gritted his teeth. "I was speaking with one of our clients. You remember we still have a few of our own, no?"

Dimitri looked puzzled. "There's no need to be hostile. I was just."

"Sir!" Sergei rushed in, oblivious to the tension between the two men. "It's Marenkov! He's at the site!"

12:54:31... 12:54:32... 12:54:33... 12:54:34...

Staring at the phone was becoming a habit for Marenkov.

Paul looked at Marenkov in the mirror. He could see the man's breathing getting heavier. "They gotta know we're here, right?"

With the first ring, Marenkov had the phone to his ear before he even knew it. "Da!"

"_Very good timing, Andrei, very good._" Alexi began, speaking Russian.

"What now?" Marenkov responded, also in Russian.

"_Fortunately for you, at your next stop, you get to be reunited with your daughter. First, however, you must change vehicles. At the other end of the lot is a blue car. The doors are unlocked and keys are in the glove compartment. Continue down the road you were on until you get to Travis road. Turn left and stop when you see a warehouse with the address 697. You have thirty minutes._"

The knot in Marenkov's chest loosened slightly. At least Paul would be safe now. "I understand."

"_Wait._" Alexi's voice grew eerily calm. "_I'm afraid chauffeurs were not part of the agreement. I can't risk him telling the authorities anything. Shoot him._"

The knot returned, twice as tight. "Nyet. That's not necessary"

"_As long as I have your daughter, I decide what is necessary._" Alexi hissed. On the phone's screen, he pulled Galina into view. Pulling her to him, he pressed a gun to her temple. "_Your choice, Andrei. Either the driver gets a bullet in the head or she does. You have ten seconds!_" Galina only sobbed.

Paul looked at the phone, then at Marenkov. "What's going on, man? What's he saying?"

"_Nine!_"

Marenkov's hands began to shake.

"_Eight!_"

Forcing himself to ignore the sick feeling in his stomach, his right hand found his gun.

"_Seven!_"

The gun seemed to aim itself.

"_Six!_"

Paul's eyes widened. "Hey! Hey! What the hell are you doing?"

"_Five!_"

Marenkov's eyes moistened. "I am sorry, my friend." he choked.

"_Four!_"

"You son of a bitch! You gave me your word!"

"_Three!_"

"For God's sakes, I told you I'm a father!"

"_Two!_"

"So am I." Marenkov whispered.

"_One!_"

The car was completely silent for just a moment after the gunshot. Alexi said something to Marenkov before hanging up. Marenkov didn't hear a word of it.

He stumbled out of the Sable, the windshield splattered with so much blood it was opaque, and made his way towards the car at the other end of the lot, trying not to vomit along the way.

* * *

Dimitri watched solemnly on the monitor as Marenkov walked slowly towards the car. "Honestly, I didn't think he'd do it."

Alexi smiled. "Of course he would. Marenkov would do anything for his precious daughter." He looked down at the woman embracing him. "Wouldn't he, my dear?"

Galina smiled, nodding in agreement, before leaning up to press her lips against Alexi's...

12:59:57... 12:59:58... 12:59:59... 1:00:00...


	4. 1:00 PM to 2:00 PM

Author's note: Sorry about the delay in the latest chapter. I'll try to be quicker with the next one.>

24: Day 1.5

_Previously in 24: Day 1.5 . . . _

_On the day he was supposed to surrender to CTU, Russian arms dealer ANDREI MARENKOV learned his daughter had been abducted and left the rendezvous point to get her. CTU agent TONY ALMEIDA was able to identify ALEXI LENKOVICH, a former competitor of Marenkov's as the abductor, while CTU agent MATT HARPER learned of Lenkovich's location and headed there. However neither CTU nor Marenkov were aware that it was aware that it was a trap and GALINA MARENKOV was working with Lenkovich against her father . . . _

_The following takes place between 1:00 P.M. and 2:00 P.M._

1:00:00 . . . 1:00:01 . . . 1:00:02 . . . 1:00:03 . . .

Matt stopped his car around the corner from the warehouse, hopefully far enough that Lenkovich and his men wouldn't see him.

"George, Tony, I'm at the site." He said into his phone. "There's no sign of Marenkov or any of Lenkovich's people."

"_Could the info on the address be wrong?_" George asked.

"I don't think so." Matt answered. "It's pretty obvious Marcus Reynolds never intended for anyone to find that list. It's possible, though, that Lenkovich anticipated we'd link him to Reynolds and found himself another hideout."

"_Or he had more than one to begin with._" Tony added.

"Michelle, what's the ETA on the support team?" George called over the woman two stations over.

Michelle looked up briefly, hearing her name. "Twenty minutes."

George nodded his head. "All right, good. Matt, hang tight. The cavalry's twenty minutes away. Looks like this end well after all."

Matt's sigh was barely audible over the phone. "I hope so."

1:14:13 . . . 1:14:14 . . . 1:14:15 . . . 1:14:16 . . .

Agent Stan Shepherd habitually looked around at the nearby buildings as the SUV headed toward the warehouse. Nearly twenty years of military training had instilled in him the importance of knowing everything possible about one's surroundings. He saw no need to disregard that tactic when he went to work for CTU.

"Now remember," he said, glancing around at the five other men in the car with him, "we still don't have a clear indication of how many hostiles there are in the building or how heavily armed they are. But just so we're clear, these are weapons dealers, so it's a damn good bet they've got good hardware so" Shepherd paused as the vehicle slowed down. He glanced at the driver then ahead at the road to see what was making him stop.

A large semi truck and trailer were parked in the middle of the road, blocking both lanes. The driver stood at the front of the truck, apparently inspecting it.

"Excuse me." Shepherd said as he stepped out of the car. "Is there a problem?"

The driver, dressed like a stereotypical trucker with his jeans, bomber jacket and cap turned to look at Shepherd. "Yeah. Engine's a tad sluggish" he answered, his voice thick with a Midwestern accent. "I was just about to open her up and see if something's wrong."

Shepherd sighed. "Sir, I'm a federal agent. We have a situation. Is it possible for you to move your vehicle to let us by?"

The driver ran his hand over his mustache and goatee, both as jet black as his hair. "I'll try. I'm not sure I can get her running again." He nodded, gave Shepherd a smile, then turned and walked back toward the cab of his truck.

Shepherd turned and walked back toward his own vehicle, noticing for the first time since seeing that truck driver that he felt uneasy.

He glanced around felt his hand instinctively reaching up toward his sidearm when he heard a metallic screeching sound coming from the rooftops. He heard one of his men in the SUV shout something and the image of a small rocket sailing down toward the car registered in his mind an instant before it exploded, pitching him back several feet.

When the disorientation passed moments later, Shepherd found himself on the ground, on his back, struggling to breathe. Looking up where the SUV had been, there was now only a flaming hulk with several men he didn't recognize walking toward it. He wasn't sure if the small burning object he saw next to the car was an arm or not.

The trucker was now emerging from the cab of the truck, a cell phone to his ear. "It's Willem" he said, not a trace of an accent. "You were right. CTU did send people. They've been neutralized. You'd better tell Lenkovich to get the hell out of there."

His hand shaking, Shepherd again reached for his weapon but found that not only was he losing too much blood, but he no longer had enough fingers left on his right hand to grip the gun. He looked up in time to see one of the other men now standing over him, a handgun pointed at his head. The man had a smug, expectant look on his face, as if waiting for Shepherd to beg for mercy.

_Forget that, you bastard._ Shepherd gave the man the most defiant look he could muster as he moved his left hand toward his weapon, knowing it would never reach it.

The bullet slashed through his forehead. Blood splattered up into his killer's face, which he wiped away in disgust. Shepherd would have been amused at this final act of contempt.

1:24:22 . . . 1:24:23 . . . 1:24:24 . . . 1:24:25 . . .

Alexi Lenkovich had been waiting for the call so when it came he was prepared for it.

"_CTU knows where you are._" The voice said. "_They sent a team in. My people dealt with them but more will be coming. Fall back to the safe house._"

Alexi nodded. "_Da._ I understand. You do understand this will delay our obtaining Marenkov considerably."

"Don't worry about that." The voice responded curtly. "Just get to the safe house. You do not want to have to deal with CTU. And don't tell the drivers the destination until you're en route. I'm not taking any chances."

* * *

Dimitri winced at the sight of Galina Marenkov lounging in one of the chairs, staring at the monitors, a large cigar in her mouth. He hated cigars to begin with. The thought of a woman, particularly one with features as delicate as Galina's, puffing away on one, was even more unsettling. 

"I just passed Yuri." He said, waving away the smoke drifting in his direction. "He was tending to a bleeding nose. You wouldn't know anything about that, would you?"

"He knows I am spoken for and even if I wasn't I have no interest in the things he proposed." She grinned, puffing more smoke at Dimitri, who suppressed a cough. "If there's one thing I can't tolerate, it is rude behavior."

Dimitri leaned forward, a scathing retort on his lips, when Alexi rushed in.

"Pack up. We're moving out now!"

Galina leaned back in surprise. Dimitri looked at Alexi, his eyes wide. "What?"

"CTU knows we're here." Alexi snapped. "They will be sending people soon. We must go!"

Dimitri shook his head. "How do you know that?"

"That's not important. We have to go now."

Dimitri gestured at the monitor. "What about Marenkov? He'll be here any minute!"

"I'll call him to give him a new destination."

Dimitri leaned in as close as possible to Alexi. Galina shifted nervously in her chair. "What's going on here, Alexi? How do you know about CTU? There's something you're not telling me."

Alexi glared at Dimitri and turned away. "You work for me. I do not have to explain myself to you."

A look of shock and anger fell over Dimitri's face. "You've been acting strangely since you met with that man in Prague. Those strange phone calls and now you say you know what CTU is doing. What are you keeping from me, Alexi? We have worked together for two years. We have saved each other's lives. Does that mean nothing?"

Galina flashed both men a smile. "I think we should tell him."

Alexi looked at Galina, then at Dimitri, and raised a finger. "Only the three of us know what I tell you, do you understand?"

Dimitri nodded, his normally hard features softened by curiosity. Alexi and Galina leaned in closer and both proceeded to tell, in great detail, their plans for Andrei Marenkov.

1:30:31 . . . 1:30:32 . . . 1:30:33 . . . 1:30:34 . . .

Matt glanced impatiently at his watch. "They should've been here by now."

"_I'm not getting anything on the team, not from radio or G.P.S.._" Michelle said.

Matt sighed. "Something's happened to them."

"I've got another team suiting up but they'll be at least a half-hour away." George said.

Matt shook his head. "If they were taken out by Lenkovich's people then he knows we have his location. He'll probably be making a run for it any time now. They'll never get here in" Matt went silent as a blue Mustang pulled into the lot in front of the warehouse. "Hang on a sec."

Matt pulled a small but powerful pair of binoculars from a compartment next to his seat and raised them to his eyes. "We've got a blue Mustang pulling into the lot." He adjusted the focus on the binoculars to get a better look at the man getting out. "It's Marenkov. I guess he switched cars." _What did you do with the driver, Andrei?_

He could see Marenkov looking around nervously several feet away as he exits the car. Matt felt his pulse quick as Marenkov's gaze remained in Matt's direction for a few second before the man broke into a run. _Hell. Not again!_

"He's spotted me! I've got to get to him!" Jumping of the car before George could order him not to, Matt sprinted after Marenkov.

Marenkov darted toward a large shed on the other side of the lot. Seeing a padlock on the door, he pulled out his handgun and shot it off. He rushed through, closed the door, and shoved a crow bar through the handle just as Matt reached the door.

Matt slammed his palm against the door in frustration, then began to look for another way in. Matt looked around at the shed. There was only the one door and both windows were too high and small to get through. Marenkov wasn't going anywhere, which meant the second support team could pick him up when they arrived but as long as Matt was here, there was a good chance Lenkovich's people would see him. He couldn't take the chance of Marenkov sneaking out and being captured by Lenkovich's people so all he could really do was wait and hope he wasn't spotted.

Matt banged on the door once, then leaned against it. "Andrei! Where's the driver you kidnaped? Where's Paul Garrett?"

There was a brief pause, then Marenkov's voice emerged from the other side of the door. "He is dead." He actually sounded remorseful. "You must believe me, I no choice in the matter."

Matt lowered his head. Lenkovich must have forced Marenkov to shoot the man to keep him from telling the authorities what he knew. "Andrei, listen to me. I know about Alexi Lenkovich. I know he has your daughter. You don't have to do this. There's a strike team coming soon. We'll be able to get your daughter out."

"So she can be caught in crossfire and die?" Marenkov shouted through the door. "Nyet!"

Matt's breathing grew harder, the stress of the last two and a half hours finally getting to him. "You don't want to cooperate, Andrei? Fine. You can just sit in that shed until the backup gets here and get dragged out just like Lenkovich and his people."

Marenkov said nothing. Matt could hear the man pacing.

He leaned against the door and sighed. It had probably been too much to hope for that Marenkov would be reasonable when cornered. Matt had to concede that if he were in a similar position and someone had Danny, he'd probably react the same way. _Sometimes, being a father means being unreasonable._

1:41:22 . . . 1:41:23 . . . 1:41:24 . . . 1:41:25 . . .

George stepped into his upstairs office, relieved to see that Division had finally forwarded the info he'd requested on Lenkovich and his people. Pretty standard stuff. Most had backgrounds in the military or the KGB. If anything seemed out of the ordinary, it was the lack of background on Dimitri Simonov, Lenkovich's second-in-command. For someone that high up in Lenkovich's operation, there was surprisingly little on the man.

Before he could give it more thought, the phone rang. George suppressed the urge to ask "Now what?" and picked it up.

"Yeah?"

"_Mr. Mason, this is security. We have a man here who says he's your father and needs to speak to you immediately._"

George's eyes widened. _You've gotta be kidding me!_

"Hang on. I'll be right down" he answered curtly.

* * *

Most people would never guess Doug and George Mason were father and son. The elder Mason was half a head shorter and bulkier. What little hair he had left was well into grey and approaching white. Aside from the receding hairline, George had taken most of his looks from his mother's side of the family. He'd remembered his mother, a nurse, once saying in regards to her husband "there's a good reason some genes are recessive." _I guess she gave me her knack for sarcasm as well._

Doug might have had a greater influence on his son's personality, if not his appearance, if he'd bothered making his presence more than just sporadic during George's childhood. The man had a distinguished twenty-four-year career with the LAPD, eighteen of them as a homicide detective. Constantly working late, on a stakeout, or moonlighting at any security job he could find, days when his father didn't come home usually outnumbered days when he did.

Not that the days when he was there were much better. The man wasn't particularly violent but his time at home typically consisted of shouting matches between him and George's mother when he got home and she smelled whiskey on his breath or saw lipstick on his clothes.

If George was a more reflective man he might have considered it had something to do with why his attempt at being a husband and father had failed so spectacularly.

While Doug, flanked by a bulky, uniformed security guard, seemed to light up at the approach of his son, George simply formed a look of disbelief.

"What are you doing here, Dad? I said I was busy. What part of that did you not understand?"

Doug held up his hands. "I know what you said. It's just I'm not gonna be here that long and I really needed to see you today."

George shook his head, incredulous that his father was giving _him_ a guilt trip. He didn't have the strength to get into another argument with his father, however, especially in person. He'd promise the old man five minutes and then he'd get back to work.

Flashing a weary look at the guard, George said "give him a pass, I'll take him up."

* * *

George walked his father, who was still adjusting his visitor badge, toward the conference room. "We're still in the middle of something here. I'll just get you to wait in the conference room for a while." 

"Yeah, sure, no problem" Doug answered, looking around expectantly at the many staff members around him, some noticing him, some not.

George gave his father an annoyed look when he knew the older man couldn't see it. _If you're actually expecting me to introduce you to people here, you can forget it, Dad._ George turned his father in the direction of the conference room then turned back at Michelle.

"How long until the backup team gets there?"

Michelle gave him a worried look. "They're still fifteen minutes away."

Patrick sat up. "I've LAPD on the line." He sighed and gave brief glances at Tony, Michelle and Lily before looking up at George. "They found the first team. Looks like somebody bombed their car. They found Shepherd's body a few feet away with a bullet in his head."

George closed his eyes for a moment and brought his hand up to his head. _These guys took out an entire field team and Matt's alone right next to them?_

1:53:46 . . . 1:53:47 . . . 1:53:48 . . . 1:53:49 . . .

Alexi looked around impatiently as Sergei, Boris, Vladimir, and the dozen other men he'd brought with him loaded equipment into the vans. "Quickly!" He shouted, clapping his hands. "They'll be here any minute!"

"There's still no sign of Marenkov" Sergei said nervously at the nearby phone. "He's not answering."

"Perhaps CTU got hold of him." Dimitri said. Alexi looked at him. Dimitri had barely spoken since Alexi and Galina had told him the truth. His silence was understandable, given what he'd heard.

"It's possible." Galina said, coldly. "Either way, we can't stay here. If he calls again, we will tell him where to go."

Boris, the only one of Alexi's men bigger than Dimitri stepped forward. "We'll still need to know where to go ourselves."

Alexi gave the man a hard stare. "I will tell you all the location when we are en route. We can't afford another hideout being compromised if anyone is captured. Once there we will try to contact Marenkov again."

"And if we can't reach him?" Boris asked, raising an eyebrow.

Alexi was spared from asking that question again when Yuri rushed in. "We have an intruder. I spotted an American agent outside near the shed." Yuri leaned in closer. "He was staying close the shed. I think he may be guarding someone inside until reinforcements arrive."

Alexi smiled. "That's where Marenkov is."

"We still have to get out of here. We don't have much time." Galina added.

Alexi nodded. "Yuri, take Boris to go kill the American. We'll leave the last van for you. Once you've got Marenkov, phone in and I'll give you the location of the hideout."

Yuri and Boris both nodded when Dimitri stepped forward. "_Nyet._" Everyone's eyes were on him. "I'll go with Yuri."

Alexi paused for a moment, lost in thought, then put a hand on Dimitri's arm, a solemn look on his face. "All right. Good luck."

Dimitri nodded as Alexi looked around at the others. "Let's go!" He shouted.

* * *

From the far side of the warehouse lot Matt could see two large vans pulling out. Ducking down to by the side of the shed where they couldn't see him. Both vans had several men in them, though he was too far to see if a woman was riding in either. 

Matt mentally noted which direction before he saw a small red dot of light race across the pavement in his direction. He recognized it immediately as the beam from a laser pointer.

_Like the kind found on sniper rifles._

The realization instinctively caused Matt to duck a second before the wall he'd been leaning against spat out dust and bits of concrete as bullets rained into the wall. Matt dove behind a massive metal container, firing off two rounds as he did so. Shots from what was clearly an automatic rifle pummeled the container.

In between shots, Matt could hear the door of the shed opening. He peeked out for a second, long enough to see Marenkov making a run for his car. _This son of a bitch is giving Marenkov time to escape before the backup team gets here._

As Marenkov's car sped off, Matt struggled to figure where the shots were coming from. He wasn't having much luck pinpointing the direction but he could tell his opponent was getting closer.

Suddenly two shots rang out, definitely from a handgun, not a rifle. Matt heard a man cry out in pain, then silence. _Finally, they got here._

"American agent, hold your fire!"

The Russian accent caused him to pause in bewilderment. It definitely wasn't Marenkov's voice, nor did it match the cry he'd just heard. Against his better judgement, he leaned out from behind the container to see two men several feet from him. One was laying face-down on the pavement, two bullet wounds in his back, a sniper rifle in his hand. The other, standing over him, was much taller with light-colored hair, kicking the rifle away.

Matt didn't lower his weapon. "Who are you?" he hissed.

Dimitri raised his hands slightly. "I am not the enemy."

"I said who the hell are you?"

Dimitri steeled his jaw. "My name is Nikolai Torumov. I am FSB."

Matt squinted his eyes. "Russian security?"

Dimitri nodded. "_Da._ I have infiltrated Alexi Lenkovich's organization for two years now. Believe me when I say it is imperative that he does not get Marenkov."

Matt looked down at the dead man, then at Dimitri. "That's what I was trying to keep from happening! Believe me, we don't want Marenkov working with Lenkovich any more than you do."

Dimitri shook his head and gave Matt a cold look. "You don't know the half of it. I must speak with your superiors. Lenkovich must not get his hands on Marenkov. The safety of both our countries depends on it."

1:59:57 . . . 1:59:58 . . . 1:59:59 . . . 2:00:00 . . .

NEXT: As Alexi's true agenda is revealed, the presidents of more than one country become involved, and both Matt and Tony wonder how much their new ally can be trusted.


	5. 2:00 PM to 3:00 PM

_Author's note: The FSB is a real agency. It's the successor to the better-known KGB, which ceased to exist after senior officials in the agency were involved in the failed coup against Gorbachev. _

24: Day 1.5

_Previously in 24: Day 1.5 . . . _

_Russian arms dealer ANDREI MARENKOV was being coerced to surrender to his rival ALEXI LENKOVICH because Lenkovich had abducted his daughter. Marenkov wasn't aware that Lenkovich and his daughter GALINA MARENKOV were lovers and she was a willing participant in the plot. The Los Angeles COUNTER TERRORIST UNIT learned of Lenkovich's location and sent field agent MATT HARPER to stop them. A field team sent to support Harper was wiped out by a team of American assassins working with Lenkovich before they could reach the hideout. Agent Harper managed to prevent the rendezvous, though both Andrei Marenkov and Lenkovich fled. Lenkovich was unaware that his second-in-command, DIMITRI SIMONOV, was actually a Russian intelligence agent named Nikolai Torumov working undercover. He revealed his true identity to Agent Harper and warned him that Lenkovich's plans went far beyond simply getting Marenkov to work for him._

_The following takes place between 2:00 P.M. and 3:00 P.M._

2:00:00 . . . 2:00:01 . . . 2:00:02 . . . 2:00:03 . . .

The large black SUV pulled into the lot and Matt waved them over. A half dozen field agents got out and approached Harper and Nikolai. The senior agent, older than the rest by at least a decade and taller than most of them as well, was leading the team. To his right was a shorter man of Asian descent.

The agents raised their weapons at Nikolai. "Federal agents! Drop your weapon!"

Nikolai dropped his gun and raised his hands. "I am not a terrorist!" He shouted. "I am Russian security!"

"We'll sort that out later." Matt said. "Right now we have to get to Lenkovich."

"Agent Harper! Agent Dan McKinley" The senior agent said, before gesturing to the Asian man next to him. "This is my second-in-command, Agent Tom Baker."

"I need to talk to Mason. It's possible CTU can still track Lenkovich on satellite."

* * *

"CTU, Mason." 

"_George, it's Matt. Two grey vans just pulled out of the warehouse about five minutes ago. I'm pretty sure Lenkovich and his men were in them. We need get a satellite lock on them._"

George nodded. "All right, I'll get Michelle and Patrick on that. What about Marenkov?"

"_One of Lenkovich's men laid down covering fire. I wasn't able to keep him from getting away."_

George sighed. "Which way were they headed?"

"North by northwest. Marenkov was driving a blue Mustang, heading in the same direction."

George leaned over toward Michelle and Patrick. "All right, we have two grey vans and a blue Mustang that left the warehouse no more than five minutes ago. I want satellite on both of them. Make sure local police have the descriptions" Of course it was a long shot, since both men would probably switch vehicles at the chance they got. George tried to ignore his father, peering inquisitively through the window of the conference room.

"_George, there's something else. I have a man here who claims to have been working undercover in Lenkovich's operation. He says he's from FSB. We should contact their office here and see if we can confirm it."_

George raised an eyebrow. "Russian giving up intelligence secrets? What cold war did you grow up in, Matt?"

"_We have to try, he says-"_

"_Let me talk to him."_ An accented voice emerged from the other end. George heard Matt saying something to the second man but couldn't make out what he said. _"Let me talk to him, please!"_ The second man repeated, more forcefully. There was a pause. _"Hello? Who am I speaking to?"_

George squinted his eyes. "This is George Mason, CTU. I was speaking with Agent Harper."

"_You can speak to him in a moment."_ The voice responded impatiently. _"Right you must contact the FSB office and tell them this: Nikolai Torumov knows the real reason Lenkovich wants Marenkov. He's not trying to enlist his services. It's Alexi who's working for someone else. Someone who wants him because Marenkov knows the location of a nuclear bomb."_

George's face went slack and his grip on the phone receiver loosened slightly.

* * *

Matt just stared at Nikolai. 

"Nyet. I do not know their name, or anything else about them." Nikolai continued into the phone. "I had to push Lenkovich just to learn he was working for someone else. You want more answers, we have to find Lenkovich and get them from him. What? Yes, fine he's right here."

Nikolai shoved the phone in Matt's direction.

"_Matt, do you have any idea what this guy is talking about?"_ George asked.

Matt sighed. "No, I just heard it now myself. I don't know any more than you do. I think it's worth taking seriously for now though."

"_All right, I've got calls to make. Chappelle's gonna want to hear about this, Rayburn at NSA too. I'll get someone to contact FSB and see if they can vouch for this guy. Once McKinley's team has secured the area, I want you back here. Bring him along too."_

"Got it." Matt hung up the phone and turned to Nikolai. "How did you find out Marenkov has a nuclear bomb?"

Nikolai sighed. "I was assigned to infiltrate Lenkovich's operation. My job was to find out who his clients and his suppliers were. There was a change of plans when I learned of his plan to abduct Marenkov. My superiors felt the opportunity to arrest both Marenkov and Lenkovich was too great to pass up, so I was ordered to do everything I could help him. Something changed, however. Alexi had been acting strangely the last few days, becoming more secretive. He was taking phone calls constantly. He said was just buyers but there was something more to it. A half-hour ago when he said he knew CTU was coming, I finally pressed him on it, asked him how he knew that. He told me the truth. I needed to get a message out immediately but I couldn't do that as long as I was close to Alexi. That's why I came to you."

Matt swallowed. "All right, once we're sure everything's clear here, my boss wants me to take you back to CTU."

Nikolai glared disapprovingly. "Right now your boss talking to his boss who will talk to his boss, and we are just wasting time going there to tell them again what little I've already told you."

Matt fixed a hard gaze at Nikolai. "Look, assuming what you've told us is the truth, then you just raised the stakes considerably. Like it or not, a lot more people are going to need to be involved now."

Nikolai gazed back, unimpressed. "Fine, fine. Let's just hope bureaucracy is not our undoing."

2:09:34 . . . 2:09:35 . . . 2:09:36 . . . 2:09:37 . . .

Marenkov frowned disapprovingly at the dashboard as the jeep headed down the road.

Obviously a few years older and not as well maintained by its owner, the jeep was considerably slower than the car he'd driven to Alexi's. Unfortunately, once he was forced to flee, he had to change vehicles as soon as possible. The authorities knew what car he had and this was the first alternative he'd seen. It had been easy enough to hot wire the jeep but struggling to get any sort of speed from it, he wondered if it might have been a better idea to wait and look for something better.

He pulled off the road and pulled to a stop in an alley. It was quiet and secluded. It was probably a safe enough spot to wait for Alexi's next call.

_If he calls again._ Marenkov banished the thought from his mind before his hands could begin to shake. If Alexi had gone to such trouble to force Marenkov to get to him, he wouldn't give up that easily, nor would he dispose of Galina, his only leverage at the moment. Alexi had never been quite as good at business as Marenkov but the man was no fool. He almost certainly had a second hideout as was likely on his way there right now. _Once he's sure it's secure, he'll call me and we can._

Marenkov was jarred out of his train of thought by the rubbery squeaking of an object being run against the windshield. He sighed as he recognized the sight of a young woman running a squeegee over it. Her clothes and hair were unkempt and while the jeep certainly needed to be cleaned, she seemed to making it dirtier.

"Nyet." Marenkov mumbled. "No, please. I do not want . . . " he trailed off as it became clear she would continue no matter what he said. After she finished, she leaned toward the driver's side window as Marenkov gazed back at her in annoyance.

"Hey, come on," the girl pleaded impatiently, "I just cleaned your window."

Marenkov was about to raise his voice in telling her to leave when something stopped him. Instead he found himself reaching into his pocket and pulling out a twenty. It was the last American money he had left but since by the end of the day, he'd either be in the custody of Alexi or the Americans, it really didn't matter. He handed the bill to the girl who thanked him profusely before walking off.

Marenkov sat back in his seat wondering why he'd just done what he did. It was curious. The girl looked was taller than Galina, younger by at least five years, and had dark hair while Galina was blonde. Yet something in the poor girl reminded him of her. _Maybe it was simply the fact that_ _she was _somebody's_ daughter,_ he thought.

2:13:47 . . . 2:13:48 . . . 2:13:49 . . . 2:13:50 . . .

Galina looked impatiently at Alexi as the cars tore down the road.

They, too had been forced to switch vehicles, though their options were much better: two SUV's from a parking lot. Hopefully, their owners wouldn't notice them missing for sometime.

"I don't like this." Galina shook her head nervously. "We should have heard from Dimitri and Yuri by now. Something's happened."

Alexi paused in thought, then looked at her. "Even if that's true, there's nothing we can do. Ultimately, they were expendable."

Galina looked at Alexi. "Expendable? Dimitri worked for you for two years."

Alexi gave her a cold stare and raised a finger at her. "If losing him is the price of this job getting done, it is acceptable. Do not lecture about things you do not understand."

Galina leaned back and sighed. "How long until we get to the house?"

"It'll be at least another half hour. We'll give your father another call once we've set up." Alexi answered, looking at the road, not noticing the disapproving stare Galina was giving him.

2:21:05 . . . 2:21:06 . . . 2:21:07 . . . 2:21:08 . . .

_The White House, Washington, D.C._

White House Chief of Staff Mike Novick was several inches shorter than his boss, President David Palmer, so it took some effort to keep up with him when walking, particularly with the slight hunch Mike had developed over the years. At times, it made him sound more drained than he actually was when speaking with the President. Times like now, for instance.

At the moment, the President was supposed to be getting ready for a fund-raiser being hosted by Alan Miliken, one of his biggest supporters. That was before Mike had received a call from Eric Rayburn, the deputy head of NSA. Moments later, Mike was having someone call David's brother Wayne, asking him to fill in for David and telling the President about a possible nuclear threat.

"Has Russian Security confirmed this man's identity?" Palmer asked as they headed toward the Oval Office.

Mike nodded "They have, Mr. President. They're taking him to CTU now for debriefing."

"Mr. President." One of his secretaries, an older woman who had been with Palmer since his first senate run, stood up as the President entered. "I have President Petrov on the line for you."

Palmer nodded. "Thank you, Beth, I'll take it in here." Palmer walked to his desk, reminding himself that a conversation with the Russian President had been inevitable as soon as he received news about the Russian agent. At the very least, it would give him a chance to have some real contact with the man for the first time since Palmer had taken office. Older than his American counterpart by more than twenty years, Palmer had only met Alexander Petrov once before when both had attended a state dinner held at the White House by one of his predecessors. Palmer had only been able to speak to him briefly.

He knew that, like Palmer, Petrov had survived two prior assassination attempts, and seemed to have held nearly every position possible in the Kremlin, both before and after the collapse of the Soviet Union. Despite accumulating a long list of enemies over the years, both in his own country and abroad, Petrov somehow managed to not only endure but thrive. Still, even with his political longevity, it had been a surprise to everyone when he announced his candidacy for President, almost as much a surprise as his election and recent reelection. Palmer had yet to decide if he was someone to consider a friend. Hopefully this incident would give him a better indication.

"_Mr. President._" The raspy, accented voice of President Petrov emerged from the phone. "_I assume your advisors have informed you of the discovery made by one of our agents._"

"They have." Palmer responded solemnly. "Am I correct in assuming you believe what your agent says to be true?"

"_Absolutely._" Petrov responded. "_He is one of our best agents. I have spoken to him personally. Mr. President, perhaps this is an opportunity for us to work together for a common goal. This investigation is of course taking place on your soil but since it is one of our agents who understands the situation best, perhaps you would consider allowing our people to work together on this._"

Petrov's tone wasn't particularly comforting to Palmer but he did have a point. They needed Petrov's man's help on this.

"Very well. CTU has been running the investigation on our end. I'll have him paired with one of our agents."

"_Good. I'll have someone from FSB's office sent over to CTU. Our agent will report to them and they in turn will keep me updated._"

Palmer raised an eyebrow. Petrov was no fool. He was expecting regular updates from his liaison to ensure his man was kept in the loop.

"Certainly. We should get back to our respective agencies. Time is of the essence. Good luck, Mr. President."

"_And to you, Mr. President._"

Palmer hung up the phone and turned to Mike, who'd been watching and listening closely to the entire conversation. "Petrov wants his man working with our people on this. I don't think we have a choice."

Mike shrugged. "Well, this guy was able to infiltrate Lenkovich's operation. Maybe we can get him back, have him lead us to Lenkovich."

Palmer nodded. "I was thinking the same thing. But have our people keep a close watch on this man. I've spoken to enough politicians to know when I'm not getting the whole story."

Mike nodded solemnly. "Yes, Mr. President."

2:34:26 . . . 2:34:27 . . . 2:34:28 . . . 2:34:29 . . .

Matt noticed Nikolai eyeing the place suspiciously as the two entered the CTU briefing room, where Tony, Lily, Patrick, and Michelle were waiting. He'd probably be doing the same thing if Nikolai was taking him to his agency's office, Matt conceded.

George trotted down the stairs from his office and extended a hand to Nikolai as he walked in. "Agent Torumov, George Mason, director of CTU. We spoke on the phone earlier."

Nikolai took George's hand but showed no emotion as he shook it, or when George introduced the other staff members. "Yes. I trust you've spoken to your superiors about what I've told you."

George looked pained for a moment. "They have. They've also consulted with your people and for the moment at least, this is effectively a joint operation. You'll be working in the field with Agent Harper. Your office in Los Angeles has been contacted and they're sending someone over as a liaison."

Matt looked at George, then Nikolai. "Now the question is where do we start?"

Nikolai raised his head slightly. "Trying to contact Lenkovich through me is not possible. He's so paranoid he wouldn't let any of us know the number for the phone he was using here. I suspect he'd be suspicious even if I tried to contact him now anyway."

"So what do we do?" Patrick asked, shifting uncomfortably in his chair when Nikolai looked at him.

"There is one lead: the man Lenkovich acquired his hideout through." Nikolai continued. "I know where you can find him."

Matt shook his head. "No, I went to Marcus Reynolds' place myself. The place was ransacked and Reynolds was missing. He's almost certainly dead."

Nikolai shook his head and a faint trace of a smile appeared at the corners of his mouth. "I didn't mean Reynolds. Lenkovich purchased more than just one piece of property. He wouldn't say where the other ones were but I know he used more than one. I only saw the other dealer once. We didn't speak. His name Larson. I never heard his first name but I would recognize his face."

George nodded. "All right, it's a start. Lily, look through the records for this guy." He turned to Matt and Nikolai. "Once we get a match, you two can head out. Take Turner and Eckland along as backup."

Matt nodded. "Got it."

Tony gestured to Matt as the others left. "Listen, Matt. I just wanted to say you might want to watch yourself around this guy." He said quietly, leaning in. "Officially, the KGB doesn't exist anymore but a lot of these FSB guys tend to work the same way."

Matt sighed and glanced at Nikolai speaking to George just outside the conference room. "Thanks for the warning."

2:39:04 . . . 2:39:05 . . . 2:39:06 . . . 2:39:07 . . .

After waiting for half an hour, Marenkov was seriously wondering if Alexi would ever call. He was jostled as the phone suddenly started ringing.

Marenkov immediately raised the phone to his ear. "Yes?" he answered impatiently.

"_Are we ready to try this again?_" Alexi's voice asked from the other end.

"Let me hear her voice first." Marenkov answered coldly.

* * *

Looking annoyed, Alexi handed the phone to Galina. 

"Father?" She whimpered into the phone.

"_Galina, have they hurt you?_"

"Nyet. But I'm afraid. I you don't-"

Alexi abruptly pulled the phone out of her hand. "All right, you've heard her voice. Now down to business. You're going to need to take a little detour again to make sure you get here safely. Now listen very carefully . . . "

Galina turned away as Alexi began giving precise directions. She had no more love for her father, but found the coldness in Alexi's voice off-putting. Besides which, now that the Americans were aware they were here, this plan was becoming more dangerous than ever.

_Whatever Paxtonis paying you, Alexi, it had better be worth all this._

2:47:41 . . . 2:47:42 . . . 2:47:43 . . . 2:47:44 . . .

Lily had quickly been able to bring up a file on a questionable businessman named Ed Larson. The man had spent five years in prison before getting into real estate. _Just the type of man Alexi Lenkovich would deal with_, Matt thought as the two SUV's pulled up to his house.

Matt and Nikolai walked up the driveway, flanked by the two field agents George had sent along with them. Greg Eckland was young-looking and shorter with a head of dark reddish hair. Hank Turner was black and taller than even Nikolai. Neither agent was particularly exceptional as far as field agents went but they were capable enough for this job, especially with what Matt had in mind.

Walking over the grass and weeds protruding from cracks in the walkway, the four men made their way to the door. Matt looked at the others, then gave the door a tentative, but hard knock.

"What do you want?" A gruff voice emerged from the other side of the door.

"It's him" Nikolai whispered. "I recognize the voice."

"Federal agents, Mr. Larson. We need to ask you a few questions."

Silence.

Matt and Nikolai looked at each other in confusion for a second. Then the creaking sound of a rusty door swinging open came from the back of the house.

"Dammit! He's running! Nikolai, Turner, cut him off around the back!"

As Matt and Eckland kicked the front door open and rushed in, Nikolai and Turner raced around the house to the backyard in time to see Larson race across the lawn.

Fortunately, despite his size, Nikolai proved remarkable quick and agile. Darting through the uncut grass, he grabbed Larson and pulled him to the ground.

"Where did you think you were going?" Nikolai hissed in Larson's ear.

With help from Agent Turner, Nikolai dragged Larson back into the house, allowing Matt to finally get a good look at the man. Even the mug-shot in his file looked more flattering than he did in person. Balding, unshaven, a few tattoos on both his exposed arms, and having obviously put on a bit of weight since that photo had been taken, it was a wonder Larson had gotten any business done, let alone something like real estate.

Nikolai led Larson into the kitchen and sat him down in the only chair that wasn't overturned. He turned to Eckland. "Go check the rest of the house and make sure there are no surprises." He then turned to Matt. "And you can go tell your boss we have him."

Both Matt and Eckland gave Nikolai disapproving stares before walking off, while Turner watched Larson intently.

A flicker of recognition registered in Larson's eyes as he stared at Nikolai. "Wait a minute. I remember you. I saw you with Lenkovich. What are you doing?"

"Where is the property you sold to Lenkovich?" Nikolai asked.

Larson stared in disbelief. "What are you? Some kind of Russian cop?"

"Something like that" Nikolai answered, raising an eyebrow. He grabbed Larson's arm, his fingers burying themselves in the man's flesh. "Now where is the property you sold to Lenkovich. There will be consequences if I must ask again."

Larson grinned smugly. "I did five years in San Quentin. I'm not afraid of a beating."

Nikolai released his grip from Larson's arm slowly unholstered his gun. "Who said anything about a beating?"

Turner looked up. "Wait a minute. What are you doing? This isn't how we do this."

Nikolai didn't take his gaze off Larson, attaching a silencer to the gun. "This is how I do this."

Instantly, Turner has his own gun out and had it aimed at Nikolai. "Put the gun away." Nikolai still stared at Larson. "I said put it away!" Turner barked.

Larson snorted. "You're not gonna shoot me. I don't believe you."

Nikolai raised his gun slightly and fired two rounds into Turner's chest. Turner went down with a grunt and didn't get up. Nikolai gestured at the unmoving agent. "I think he does."

Nikolai turned back to the now trembling Larson. "They're just stupid American agents I am using to get to Lenkovich." Nikolai rasped. "What do you think you mean to me?"

"Wait a min- wait a minute!" Larson stammered. "Look. I can tell you where he is."

"Where!"

Larson's trembling continued. "It's this house. 4729 Harmon Bay."

"Get up!" Nikolai gestured to the front door with his gun.

"Where are we going?"

"My car has an online map. I'm going to confirm what you just told me." Nikolai again gestured at Turner's body on the floor. "You won't die nearly quickly as he did if you are lying."

Matt and Eckland waited until Nikolai and Larson had walked out the door before heading over to Turner.

"Are you all right?" Matt asked as Turner sat up.

Turner sighed, tapping the bulletproof vest concealed under his jacket. "I'm good. Larson bought it."

Matt nodded. "Good. Once Nikolai confirms the location Larson's giving him, we'll head out. You two can take him back to CTU."

Turner smiled. "I gotta admit this was a good plan, Matt" He looked at Matt, then Eckland. "But next time, one of you guys can be the one to get shot."

Matt chuckled.

* * *

Nikolai kept an eye on Larson, handcuffed to the front SUV several feet away, as waited for the person on the other end to pick up. 

"It's me." He whispered when they finally answered. "I have a possible location on Lenkovich. Do we have enough people to take him ourselves?"

"_Nyet._" The female voice on the other end responded. "_You'll have to keep working with the Americans for now._"

"I understand."

"_The President wants this matter settled. We cannot allow the possibility of Marenkov falling into Lenkovich's hands. If he has to die to prevent that from happening, that is acceptable._"

Nikolai's breathing increased slightly. "I've been partnered with an American agent who's trying to take Marenkov alive. He might have objections to that."

There was a pause. "_Then if he also died in a confrontation with Marenkov, that would also be acceptable. I'm almost at CTU now. I'll contact you again when I can._" The phone beeped as the female voice disconnected.

Nikolai looked back at the house, suddenly feeling very uneasy.

2:59:57 . . . 2:59:58 . . . 2:59:59 . . . 3:00:00 . . .

NEXT: As Matt and Nikolai close in on Marenkov, George father reveals a very personal secret to him, while Palmer's suspicions of Petrov grow.


	6. 3:00 PM to 4:00 PM

_24: Day 1.5_

_Previously in 24: Day 1.5 . . . _

_CTU Agent MATT HARPER's mission to track down Marenkov is complicated when one of Lenkovich's men is revealed to be an undercover Russian Security officer named NIKOLAI TORUMOV. PRESIDENT DAVID PALMER consults with his Russian counterpart PRESIDENT ALEXANDER PETROV and reluctantly agrees to a joint operation to find Marenkov and Lenkovich. Matt and Nikolai quickly manage to obtain a possible location for Lenkovich. What Matt is unaware of is that Nikolai's contact from his office has instructed him to neutralize Marenkov at any cost, and, if necessary, to kill Matt as well..._

_The following takes place between 3:00 P.M. and 4:00 P.M._

3:00:00 . . . 3:00:01 . . . 3:00:02 . . . 3:00:03 . . .

The petite woman walking into CTU seemed to be the antithesis of the vision most people had of a Russian security agent. She had a polite yet pleasing look on her face as she walked by various agents, some of whom took a moment to glance up as she passed them. Her light gray suit jacket and skirt and the smile she gave George Mason as he trotted down the stairs from his office to meet her suggested more warmth to the woman than he'd expected when speaking to her on the phone.

Her smile broadened as he extended his hand, revealing a mouthful of perfectly white teeth. "Mr. Mason, I presume. Natalya Tenyakova."

George himself offered a rare smile as she took his hand. "Agent Tenyakova. Good, I just got a call from our people. Looks like that dealer your man gave us panned out."

"That is very good news." She answered, looking at George.

George's smile became slightly more awkward. "Ummm... I'll introduce you to the rest of the staff and we can get you up to speed."

As George walked Natalya over to another station, Lily turned her gaze from the two of them over to Michelle. Both women rolled their eyes for a moment before resuming their work.

3:06:05 . . . 3:06:06 . . . 3:06:07 . . . 3:06:08 . . .

"Yes, that's right. The address checked out on my end." Nikolai said, glancing at Ed Larson, handcuffed to the SUV, just out of earshot. "Turner and Eckland can take our friend back to CTU. Harper and I will head over to the house."

Nikolai turned back to the house to see the three CTU agents emerge from it. He looked back at Larson to see the predictable reaction when he saw Turner, the man Nikolai had appeared to kill in front of him.

"Wh...what the hell? What the hell is this?" He stammered, breathing heavily before looking back at Nikolai. "You...you son of a bitch! You set me up!" Larson lunged at Nikolai but only moved a few inches before the handcuffs caught him.

A faint trace of a smile appeared on Nikolai's face. "It was something I saw in a movie once, some gangster film with Sean Connery. Be grateful. Where I come from, the threat would have been real."

Matt snorted in amusement. "All right. You two can take him back to CTU. Nikolai and I'll check out the address he gave us."

Matt and Nikolai nodded at Turner and Eckland and walked over to the second SUV, ignoring the murderous glares Larson was directing at them.

3:10:27 . . . 3:10:28 . . . 3:10:29 . . . 3:10:30 . . .

Alexi Lenkovich stared at the occasional scanning lines running up the monitor. Normally Sergei was fairly good with electronics but there was only so much he could do on short notice. The image on the screen was being transmitted from a camera mounted on a telephone pole across the street from their safe house on Harmon Bay.

Alexi heard footsteps approaching. He swivelled his chair just enough to see Galina approaching. He took a moment to smile at her attire. The blouse and suit pants she'd worn for moments speaking with her father had been discarded in favor of a dark leather jack along with a denim miniskirt and knee-length boots. It was much more in keeping with what she'd been wearing that night he first saw her at that nightclub in Prague and several times since.

Galina frowned in thought at the image on the monitor. "You told him to go to the other safe house?"

Alexi nodded. "Just as a relay point. I still wanted him to take a detour or two before coming here. Don't worry, He should get there within the hour, then I'll have him come straight here."

Galina's frown remained. She squinted her eyes, as if trying to remember something.

"What?"

"Who did we get the safe house through? Marcus Reynolds or Ed Larson?" Galina asked.

"Larson, why?"

Galina shrugged. "CTU found the warehouse, which means Marcus was probably compromised."

Alexi stood up. "You think they could find Larson as well?"

Galina nodded. "It's possible. Who did you take with you when you met with Larson?"

Alexi lowered his head for a moment, collecting his thoughts, then looked up at her again. "Dimitri."

Galina's jaw dropped as she rolled her eyes. "Dimitri! Dimitri, who you left behind with Yuri to risk capture so we could escape!"

Alexi's eyes narrowed. "Dimitri and Yuri are dead." He grumbled.

Galina continued, raising her arms. "We don't know that! They could have been captured alive. If that is the case, CTU will interrogate them until they break and tell them everything. You should call him now and tell him not to go near the house. Have him come straight here."

"I can't do that." Alexi replied coldly. "I can't get a signal though right now. Sergei's working on it but it will take time."

Galina stared at him in disbelief. "Unbelievable. You never should have let Dimitri stay behind. In fact, we never should have listened to Paxton and come here. You were so blinded by greed, you never considered the risks. All the money he offered will do us no good if we are arrested or killed!"

"I don't remember hearing any objections from you when we first learned of the offer." Alexi responded though his teeth. "As I recall, you were excited at any opportunity to get back at your father."

"I would never have agreed if I had known you would be so careless! You have no idea what you're doing or how–" Galina's rant was cut short as Alexi's hand clamped down on her left arm.

"I warned you, do not lecture on my business or how I do this." Alexi's voice came out as a snarl, but his voice sounded dangerously close to breaking. "You know nothing of either."

Galina brought her right hand up to Alexi's, trying to pry it from her arm. Instead, he only tightened his grip. "Ah! You're hurting me!" She rasped.

"Don't ever speak to me like that again." Alexi hissed, released his grasp on her arm and storming off.

Galina massaged her arm where Alexi had grabbed it, certain she'd have some bruising there for a day or so. She glared in the direction he had stormed off in, hoping he at least had the good sense to call Paxton and inform him of their situation. _I don't even care about the money anymore. When this is all over, I'm making some changes._

* * *

Paxton was not expecting any calls, least of all from Alexi. Clearly the man was better at giving instructions than following them. He made no attempt to hide this when he answered.

"Do you remember what I said about not calling me?" Paxton said, curtly.

"_I think we might have a problem._" Alexi whispered.

"Is that right?"

"_Two of my men where lost dealing with a CTU agent when we evacuated the warehouse. I'm not sure if they were captured or killed, but one of them knows the location of the second safe house._"

Paxton sighed. "Well, now that is a problem, one that might have been prevented if you'd been good enough to inform me you were working with more than one real estate dealer."

There was a pause, no doubt the realization that he knew much more about Alexi's operation than Alexi thought. "_I told you about Marcus Reynolds and look what happened to him. Larson was useful. I didn't want to lose him._"

Paxton nodded. "And that's just the kind of irresponsible behavior that can unravel a plan. Fortunately, I'm dealing with our problem now. _Do not_ call me again until you have the information."

Paxton hung up sharply, then picked up the receiver and pressed one of the numbers on speed dial. "Willem, we were right about Larson. Get over to his place. Find out if he's talked."

"_I'm on it."_ Willem answered before hanging up.

Paxton leaned back in his office chair and shook his head. It was partly his fault, he supposed. Alexi simply wasn't cut out for a venture this complicated. He'd seemed like the perfect candidate when he hooked up with Marenkov's daughter. Paxton should have known it was too good to be true. _I should have found someone whose judgement wasn't so impaired by greed._

That last thought made him chuckle, in spite of himself. After all, it was his own greed and carelessness that had forced him into this situation, wasn't it? Hopefully he'd be able to set Alexi straight and warn him about the danger of underestimating a CTU agent.

3:18:12 . . . 3:18:13 . . . 3:18:14 . . . 3:18:15 . . .

Larson slumped in the back seat, his hands cuffed, glaring at the field agent in the driver's seat, while the other one sat next to Larson.

"Hey, drive carefully." Larson sneered. "I'd hate for us to get in an accident n' have you die for real. "

"Shut up!" Agent Turner snapped, glancing at Larson in the rearview mirror. "You can talk all you like when we get to CTU."

"And believe me, you will." added Agent Eckland, tapping Larson's arm with his elbow.

The SUV slowed to a stop at an intersection. The black van in front of them wasn't moving despite having a green light. Turner tapped on the horn but the van didn't budge. After glancing back at Eckland, he stepped out and walked toward the van. Larson couldn't see him has he walked around the back corner of the van, but a second after he did, he heard what could only be two muffled gunshots and a pained grunt.

Eckland heard it too. He unholstered his gun and turned to Larson. "Stay here." He said, opening the door. He only made it a few steps before Larson heard two more gunshots. When he turned toward the agent, he was now laying on the ground, not moving.

_Aw hell, this for real! I gotta get outta here!_ Trying to keep his head down, he moved toward the open door. When he looked up a menacing-looking man with jet-black hair and goatee and walking toward him, a handgun raised.

"Don't move." The man said to the now trembling Larson.

Larson raised his hands, still cuffed together. "Wh- what do you want?"

"What did you tell them?" The man leaned inside the SUV, his gun pointed at Larson.

"Who are you? You workin' with Lenkovich?"

The man's eyes narrowed. "What did you tell them?" he continued slowly. "I won't ask you again."

Larson's hands began to shake. "Wait, wait, wait! Look, I'll tell ya whatever you wanna know." He smiled and gestured with his head at the dead agent lying outside the SUV behind the man. "You wanna screw these guys? Fine. I can help. I'm a little pissed at 'em right now myself. C'mon, we can make a deal. What do you say?"

The man paused for a moment, then a slight smile crept over his face. "Sure," he said. "We can make a deal. I know my boss is always looking for new talent. But first I need to know what you told them."

Larson chuckled and leaned back against the seat. "No problem." As he began to explain to the man what he'd told them and where the third agent and his Russian friend were going, he noticed his heartbeat slowing to a normal pace. _And here I thought I was lookin' at goin' back to prison or something. I guess today's my lucky day after all._

3:22:50 . . . 3:22:51. . . 3:22:52 . . . 3:22:53 . . .

Matt looked down at his watch, then up at Nikolai in the passenger seat. "Should be about another half-hour until we get there. McKinley's team is about five minutes behind us."

Nikolai glanced at Matt. "We should not wait for them. If we have a chance to catch Marenkov ourselves, we must do it."

"I agree." Matt responded, nodding solemnly. "I'd like to try to take Lenkovich alive as well. I want to find out who he's working for."

"I'm not sure." Nikolai shook his head in thought. "Who would be trying to acquire a nuclear weapon this way? There are easier ways."

"Probably someone who doesn't want it traced back to them."

"Who could that be? Most terrorists would be happy to claim responsibility for an attack on the scale a nuclear weapon would cause."

Matt shrugged. "Then it's probably not for terrorists. Hopefully, we'll find out when we get there."

Nikolai sighed. "Marenkov's not going to come peacefully as long as he thinks his daughter is in danger."

"Yeah, well I don't want to tell him she's working with Lenkovich until we've got him secure. His state of mind's fragile enough as it is."

"What I mean is, Marenkov has shown himself willing to kill to accomplish his objective. We have a responsibility to make sure he does not reach Lenkovich at any cost."

Matt's eyes narrowed. "Our orders were to bring him in alive."

Nikolai nodded. "Of course that is what we will try to do but with Marenkov that may not be possible. You need to accept the possibility that there may only one way to end this."

Matt leaned in close to Nikolai, barely speaking louder than a whisper. "Let get one thing straight: when I first arrived at CTU today, my orders were to bring Andrei Marenkov in alive. The situation may be a hell of a lot more complicated and the stakes may be higher but my orders are still the same, and I will carry them out. Now are we going to have a problem with that?"

Nikolai leaned away from Matt. He said nothing.

Satisfied, Matt turned his gaze back to the road.

3:34:48 . . . 3:34:49 . . . 3:34:50 . . . 3:34:51 . . .

"_Mr. President,_" President Petrov voice emerged through the phone's speaker. "_I have just spoken with our agent assigned to your intelligence office. She reports that we may be apprehending General Marenkov shortly._"

President Palmer nodded. "That's very good news."

Petrov was silent for a moment, then resumed. "_As this crisis may soon be passing, there is another matter I would like to discuss with you, something of a more sensitive nature._"

Palmer furrowed his brow. "Certainly." _What could this be about?_ He wondered.

"_I would rather not go into details over the phone, but I will tell you this much: I believe certain individuals in my government may have been involved in what has been happening today._"

Palmer managed to maintain his composure. "That's a very serious allegation, Mr. President. In all honesty, I'm surprised you're telling me this."

"I realize that but I feel you may be of help. With your permission, I have asked our ambassador to meet with you. He will give you the whole story. I hope you will receive him."

Palmer folded his arms and looked at the phone. "Of course, Mr. President. Would one hour from now be acceptable?"

"_Perfectly. Thank you, Mr. President._"

A puzzled Mike Novick looked at Palmer. "What do you suppose that was about?"

Palmer shook his head. "I'm not sure, but meeting with the Ambassador is good place to start finding out."

* * *

Petrov's hand rested on the phone for a moment after he'd hung it up. He only moved it when the voice of one of his secretaries chimed in on the intercom.

"_Mr. President?_"

Petrov heaved a sigh before pressing the reply button. "Yes?"

"_The Prime Minister has arrived._"

Petrov felt a growing weight on his chest. "Very good." he said, without any inflection. "Send him in." A second later an aide whose name Petrov couldn't remember opened the door and in walked the Prime Minister.

Physically, Leonid Rudenko and Petrov seemed opposites in almost every way. Decades of struggle to survive in the Kremlin had left Petrov perpetually tired-looking, while his noticeably receded hairline, round face, and slightly heavy figure didn't help. In recent years, he had begun to delegate more and more public appearances to others in his administration.

Rudenko, on the other hand, appeared the picture of health and strength and seemed to seek out the spotlight at every opportunity. Tall and handsome, he was one of the youngest men to ever hold his position and was considered quite desirable among the female population. Not surprisingly, this lead to numerous rumors of mistresses all over Russia. Petrov, however, suspected Rudenko was smart enough not to keep more than one or two at a time, as Petrov did.

Petrov had actually seen Rudenko as something of a protégée early in his career, though their relationship had become less personable as Rudenko's star rose. He'd been reluctant to appoint Rudenko as prime minister, particularly after the sudden and untimely death of Rudenko's predecessor. He'd finally relented after continuous urging from his advisors. Apparently they felt being associated with the young and popular Rudenko would be good for Petrov's image, especially since, as prime minister, he would be the one to assume the presidency if anything happened to Petrov.

"Mr. President," Even Rudenko's voice sounded more vigorous than Petrov's. "I've just heard about the situation with Marenkov in America."

"Da." Petrov nodded slowly, gesturing for the younger man to sit. "If all goes well, we should have him in custody shortly."

Rudenko took a seat in one of the chairs in from of Petrov's desk. Even sitting, he maintained a good amount of height over Petrov. "If what our agent says about Marenkov having a nuclear device is true, perhaps we should allow the Americans to interrogate him, for the sake of time."

Petrov leaned in closer, a serious look on his face. "If he allows himself to be taken alive, of course."

Rudenko nodded solemnly. "Of course."

"I'll mention that the next time I speak to President Palmer."

Rudenko looked puzzled. "You've been speaking with Palmer yourself?"

Petrov crossed his fingers and smiled. "You find that odd?"

A slight smile crept over Rudenko's face. "Not at all, sir. I simply assumed you would have left this matter in the hands of the diplomats."

"I simply felt the possible threat was too great not to be involved personally. Don't worry. Our embassy staff will earn their pay before this is over. Is that all right with you?"

Rudenko shrugged. "That is entirely your prerogative, Mr. President. Was there anything else you and Palmer discussed?"

Petrov leaned back in his chair, his smile widening. "Nothing that would concern you."

3:47:40 . . . 3:47:41 . . . 3:47:42 . . . 3:47:43 . . .

George let out a quiet sigh as he walked through the hallway back toward his office and saw his father approaching him. Apparently, not even a trip to the bathroom meant a moment's respite.

"You know, I guess the terms 'I'm busy' and 'not a good time' weren't really common use in your day, were they, Dad?"

Doug put his hands up. "Look. You're right, okay? You're right. I picked a pretty lousy day to show up uninvited."

George rolled his head around. Laying on the guilt seemed to be the one skill all parents, good and bad, seemed to have. "Two minutes." He said, holding up two fingers.

"Thanks." Doug answered, scratching at the sides of his beard.

"You know that probably wouldn't itch so much if you finally got around to shaving it off."

Doug chuckled. "I've had this for twenty-five years. It's not going anywhere now." He looked closely at his son's clean-shaven face. "You know you'd probably look good with one of these yourself."

"Yeah, right."

"So, uh, how's John?"

"How should I know? I haven't seen him in . . . I don't even know how long. Last I heard, he wasn't doing too bad. He was working at one of those kiosks by the bay."

Doug forced an awkward smile. "I guess I'm the last person who should be talking to you about seeing your son."

The slight smile on George's face dropped away. "Yeah, that's about right."

"Doesn't mean it's not true, though. I mean, you really want your son looking at you the way you look at me?"

"Trust me, Dad. That ship sailed a long time ago." George looked down at his watch. "And I know I said two minutes but I just remembered that father-son bonding moments tend to take a back seat to national security. So If you'll excuse me, I need to--"

"I'm dying, George."

It took a second for George to make sure he'd heard that right. The look on his father's face said he had.

For perhaps the first time in his life, George Mason was at a loss for words. All but one. "What?"

Doug took a long breath. "I've been having some memory problems lately; missing appointments, forgetting where I put something, going out somewhere and forgetting why. Between that and some other stuff, the doc says it's pretty consistent with early stage Alzheimer's."

George was still fairly speechless but managed to get the words out. "Wh- are you sure? I mean, have you gotten a second opinion or anything."

Doug shrugged. "Of course I got a second opinion. You think I'm gonna let a doctor scare me like that and not make sure he's not a quack?"

George leaned back against the wall, thinking back to their brief phone conversation earlier in the day. _That's why he thought he was still living in Ventura._

George looked down at his shoes, trying to think of something to say. "Look, Dad, I-" George hadn't actually figured out yet what he was going to say, but whatever it was, it was interrupted by the familiar voice of Patrick Hennessy.

"Mr. Mason, there you are!" Patrick said, rushing over to George, slightly out of breath. "I just got a call from LAPD. One of their patrol cars found Turner and Eckland's car stopped at an intersection. Turner and Eckland were both dead, Larson too. They'd all been shot at medium to close-range."

George didn't even look at his father as he rushed back toward his office with Patrick in tow. "Get Harper on the phone now! Then put me through to McKinley's team!"

3:49:02 . . . 3:49:03 . . . 3:49:04 . . . 3:49:05 . . .

"Yes, I understand, but we might not get another chance to grab up Marenkov before they do. We're just pulling up now."

Nikolai looked over at Matt, turning off his phone as they parked a few houses over from the address Larson had given them. "What is it?" He asked.

Matt gave Nikolai a worried look. "Someone caught up with Turner and Eckland on their way back to CTU. They're both dead, along with Larson, which means our location's probably compromised."

"We still have to try to get to him."

Matt nodded. "That's what I told them. Fortunately, Mason and that woman your office sent over agrees."

"Our backup's still five minutes behind us?"

Matt sighed. "Yeah. They said they-"

"Shh!" Nikolai shushed and pointed toward a grey, slightly rusted jeep pulling into the driveway of the house they'd been given. Matt could just make out the driver from the distance as he turned off the engine. "Marenkov."

Both men pulled out their guns. Quietly stepping out of their car, Matt and Nikolai began slowly sneaking toward the jeep, while crouching behind the row of parked cars lining their side of the street. Reaching the last car, there was nothing they could do at this point but run exposed up to the jeep. Matt hurried up on the left while Nikolai took the right. Matt rushed up to the door and was rewarded with a surprised look on Marenkov's face.

"Put your hands on the steering wheel!" Matt yelled, his gun raised. Marenkov looked over and saw Nikolai on the other side, gun also raised. "Andrei, put your hands on the steering wheel now!" Both men opened the doors on the jeep and kept their gun trained on Marenkov while he frantically looked around, apparently trying to find some way out of this. "Get out of the car!" Matt ordered.

Marenkov hesitated for a few more seconds before tentatively pulling himself out of the jeep. Nikolai rushed over, pulled Marenkov's wrists back and handcuffed them.

"You do not understand!" Marenkov pleaded, his voice faltering. "They have my daughter. They will kill her if I do not surrender to them!"

Matt gave Nikolai a quick look, then turned back to Marenkov. "I know," he said softly, "and I promise we'll to everything we can to help her but you-"

The sound glass cracking caused all three men to duck as a bullet tore through the windshield of the jeep. "Get behind the jeep!" Matt yelled as they rushed around, dodging two more shots along the way.

Crouching behind the jeep, Nikolai stuck his neck out for a second before pulling back. "Looks like just one shooter."

Matt looked around at the fragile-looking old vehicle they were hiding behind and shook his head. "This thing's no good for cover. We've got to make a run for the car."

Nikolai looked down, appearing lost in thought for a moment, then looked up, a determined look on his face. "Go. I'll cover you."

"Right." Matt nodded nervously before grabbing Marenkov's arm. "Come on!"

Matt and Marenkov stood up and made a mad dash for the SUV. Matt could hear shots coming from Nikolai's position and more from further away. Halfway from the driveway to the car, Marenkov grunted in pain and nearly lost his footing. Matt looked over and saw a dark patch of color growing on Marenkov's sleeve as blood spilled from a wound in his arm.

_What the hell? This guy's shooting at Marenkov!_ Putting his hand on Marenkov's back, Matt pushed the older man the rest of the way.

Matt had his hand on the door when he saw Marenkov fall to the ground with another wound, this one in his chest. Matt yelled for Nikolai to come over, which he did, squeezing off three more rounds on the way. Nikolai pulled the groaning Marenkov up and shoved him into the back seat of the SUV before jumping in himself, while Matt hopped in the driver's seat and started the engine.

"Tony, it's Matt!" Matt yelled into the phone as the SUV sped off. "We have Marenkov but he's been wounded. Somebody was trying to kill him. Have the doctors prepare for an incoming patient."

"_Wait. Somebody was trying to kill Marenkov?_" Tony asked.

"That's what it looked like. There was a shooter and they were definitely aiming for him. I don't think it was one of Lenkovich's people. It wouldn't make any sense. It wouldn't do them any good."

"_Who else could it be?_"

Matt sighed. "I'm not sure but we'll deal with that later. I've got to get him back to CTU before he bleeds to death." He turned back to Nikolai. "Keep pressure on the wound!" He yelled.

Matt's grip on the steering wheel tightened. _I can't lose this guy now, not after all this!_

* * *

"_You were right. Torumov couldn't do it. They managed to get Marenkov away but his wound was fatal._"

"You're sure of that?" Natalya whispered, leaning into the phone.

"_I saw for myself. He won't make it back._"

"That's not good enough!" Natalya hissed. "As long as Marenkov is alive, he's a threat. Follow them and make sure the job is finished before they get back here. If Torumov or the American interfere, kill them both as well." She turned off the phone and headed back up the hallway toward George's office.

When he was sure she'd left, Doug peered out from behind the doorway she'd been standing next to, still stunned by what he'd heard.

3:59:57 . . . 3:59:58 . . . 3:59:59 . . . 4:00:00 . . .

NEXT: As doctors struggle to save Marenkov's life, the stakes become very personal for Matt as his family becomes involved.


	7. 4:00 PM to 5:00 PM

_Author's note: Sorry for the delay, but hopefully this extra long chapter will make up for it. _

_24: Day 1.5_

_Previously in 24: Day 1.5 . . . _

_MATT HARPER and Agent Nikolai Torumov were able to intercept ANDREI MARENKOV at one of Lenkovich's safe houses. They were unaware that Nikolai's contact at FSB, NATALYA TENYAKOVA, had dispatched a second agent to kill Marenkov. Harper and Nikolai were able to retrieve Marenkov but not before he was badly wounded. Meanwhile PRESIDENT DAVID PALMER has been working closely with the Russian President during the situation. During their last conversation, the Russian President asked President Palmer to meet with his Ambassador regarding evidence that his own people may have been involved. Mean while GEORGE MASON was paid a visit from his father, DOUG MASON, who revealed he had been diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease. George was called away during the situation with Marenkov but Doug managed to overhear Natalya instructing her agent to make sure Marenkov is dead and to kill Harper and Nikolai if necessary._

_The following takes place between 4:00 P.M. and 5:00 P.M._

4:00:00 . . . 4:00:01 . . . 4:00:02 . . . 4:00:03 . . .

Matt turned away from the road and glanced back where Nikolai was still applying pressure to Marenkov's wound. "How's he doing?"

The Russian agent looked up, his breathing heavier than normal. "I think I've got the bleeding under control for now but I don't think he'll make it back to CTU."

Matt hit a few buttons and the vehicle's online roadmap came up. "All right, Santo Roberto General's about five minutes away," Matt said, making a sharp turn down a side street before hitting the speed dial on his phone.

* * *

"It's Matt!" Michelle called over to George, who rushed over to her, Natalya following right behind.

"Matt, what's happening?" George barked into the phone.

"_Marenkov's bleeding too heavily. We're taking him to Santo Roberto. Tell them we've got a critical gunshot wound five minutes out."_

"Got it." George looked up from the phone at the woman who's handed it to him. "Michelle."

Michelle nodded. "I heard. I'm on it."

Before George could object, an anxious-looking Natalya picked up another phone. "Agent Harper, this is Agent Tenyakova, FSB. Do you have any idea who could have done this?"

"Negative, we never got a look at the shooter, but they were ready for us so whoever it was, they must know about Lenkovich's operation."

Natalya nodded. "I see."

George lightly put a hard on her arm. "Don't worry. We'll find out who this was."

An uneasy smile appeared on her face. "I'm sure you will."

4:03:12 . . . 4:03:13 . . . 4:03:14 . . . 4:03:15 . . .

"What do you mean a shoot-out?" Galina exclaimed, rushing over to the monitors were Alexi and Sergei sat.

"I wasn't able to get a good look." Alexi said, shifting uneasily in his chair. "Marenkov pulled into the safe house driveway. Two men rushed up and pulled him out. They must have been with CTU. Suddenly someone started shooting at them. The camera panned as much as it could, but I wasn't able to see much else." He paused with a sigh. "I think Marenkov was hit."

Galina's jaw dropped as the color drained from her face. "What?"

Alexi raised his hands defensively. "Don't worry. I've already got a plan in motion. We can still salvage this."

Galina stared at Alexi in disbelief. "Plan? You think there is any plan that can save this? My father was shot and even if he lives, he'll be in CTU's custody! It's over, Alexi! Your plan has failed! We need to get out of here while we still--"

Galina barely noticed in mid-speech as Alexi's right arm began to raise. It didn't completely register with her until the back of his hand struck her face, knocking her to the ground. She slid a few inches, her skirt and bare legs brushing against the hardwood floor. She just lay there, not moving except for the hand running over the side of her face, staring at him in disbelief. Alexi stared back, his breathing heavier. Without saying a word, he gestured to the startled Sergei and the two men walked away, leaving her there.

4:07:30 . . . 4:07:31 . . . 4:07:32 . . . 4:07:33 . . .

Marenkov's breathing was starting to sound more labored as the car pulled into the hospital.

"Hang on, Andrei." Matt glanced back as two young nurses and a tall, dark-haired doctor helped Nikolai pull Marenkov out of the car. "You're gonna be all right."

"If I... if I do not make it," Marenkov rasped as they lifted him onto a gurney, "there is something you need to do."

"We know about the nuclear device." He whispered to Marenkov while the doctor began saying something to one of the nurses. "We still need the location."

"My daughter." Marenkov said hoarsely. "Help her and I will tell you."

Matt leaned in closer while Nikolai gritted his teeth in frustration. "You could die, Andrei. Please!"

The nurses wheeled they gurney towards the ER while Matt and Nikolai followed. "Promise me you will help her."

Matt stopped, looking back at Nikolai for a moment, then turned back to Marenkov. "I promise."

Marenkov began saying something but voice began slurring as his eyes fluttered shut. "Is he going to make it?" Matt shouted to the doctor.

The doctor turned back towards Matt. "Possibly, but we need to get him stabilized before we can take him up to the OR." The doctor turned back to Marenkov as he was rolled away.

Matt kept his eyes on Marenkov until he was rolled into another room. "If he dies without giving us the location of the nuclear weapon..."

Nikolai glanced briefly at Matt. "At least Alexi Lenkovich won't get it."

Matt turned to look at him. "No, but someone else might. There's no way to be sure until we find out where it is."

Nikolai lowered his head and said nothing.

Matt was about to call CTU when he noticed a familiar figure walking towards a set of pay phones at the other end of the hall. "Lauren?" He whispered.

"What is it?" Nikolai asked.

"It's all right, just keep an eye on Marenkov." Matt glanced back at him as he walked down the hall.

* * *

Matt nearly missed her as she headed towards a crowd, but she finally turned around as he rushed towards her.

"Matt!" Lauren Harper nodded awkwardly as he approached her. Though she and her husband were the same age, she looked noticeably younger, her chin-length head of dark red hair accenting her features. Since their separation, Matt had deliberately tried to limit as much of their interaction to the phone as possible. It was difficult enough talking to her without seeing her as well. "Thank God you made it."

Matt frowned in confusion. "Made it?"

"To see Danny, right?" She asked expectantly.

Matt sighed, putting his hand to his head. "I didn't even know this was the hospital you were at. I was in the field and a suspect was injured. I brought him here."

Lauren's gaze suddenly cold. "Right, your job."

"Laurie, I am not doing this with you again, not here." Matt whispered harshly.

"This isn't about us, Matt." Lauren snapped. "For the last seven months you've barely seen your son. He doesn't believe you anymore when you say you'll be there for him."

Matt steeled his jaw. "We've had this conversation God knows how many times. Nothing we say today is going to change things." Matt's look softened. "Look, I don't know how long I can stay but I'd like to see him."

Lauren sighed, knowing this was the best she could expect. "All right follow me."

* * *

George watched intently as Natalya spoke into the phone in her native Russian, wondering if he just saw Michelle off to the side, rolling her eyes at him. He wasn't sure why Natalya's face looked likely she was hiding disappointment.

Natalya hung up and turned to George. "That was Agent Torumov. The doctors believe Marenkov will recover. He's being taken to surgery right now"

George raised his brow and smiled. "Well, there's some good news. I'll have McKinley and his team head over to the hospital to guard Marenkov until it's safe to transport him here." George leaned his head in. "I guess we make a pretty good team."

Natalya gave George an awkward smile. "Um, yes, I suppose so. Excuse me. I need to inform my superiors of the situation. I'm sure you need to do the same."

George sighed as she walked to the other side of the room, phone back to her ear. _Well, she came to her senses about me faster than most women. At least I know this one won't try for alimony._

George sighed again as he spotted his father quietly walking towards him. "Dad, look, I said I've got a lot to deal with. One of my agents was just involved in a shooting--"

Doug leaned in closer. "Look, this is important." He whispered, glancing in Natalya's direction.

"What is it?"

Doug took a breath, then paused, suddenly looking very nervous. "I...I don't know. I remembered it a second ago, I hat it but..."

George shook his head. "That's just great. Look, I'll tell you what: Just have a seat in the conference room and in a few hours I'll probably be off and we can grab something to eat and try to remember what you wanted to tell me." George turned over to Patrick. "Patrick, I want to look up any possible aliases Reynolds or Larson might have owned property under. We might get a lead."

Patrick nodded. "Got it."

Doug's hand ran over his forehead, as George walked away. "It was really important. I remember that."

4:11:26 . . . 4:11:27 . . . 4:11:28 . . . 4:11:29 . . .

Matt and Lauren found Danny slouched in a chair in one of the waiting room looking up at one of the TV's, a large cast encasing his right arm.

Matt lit up for a moment as his son recognized him, despite the despaired look on his face. "Hey, buddy. How are you feeling?"

"I have a broken arm. How do you think!" Danny answered impatiently, raising the cast as much as he could.

Matt moved his son's school bag aside and sat down next to him. "I had to get a cast when I was about your age. It's not so bad."

Danny shook his head sadly. "I'm gonna miss soccer practice."

Matt shrugged and put a had on his shoulder. "Yeah, but you'll be able to invent some great story when people ask you how you got it, like you fought off a mountain lion or something."

"Dad!" Danny moaned.

Matt sighed. "Tell you what. Have you eaten? I'll go grab something for you."

"Okay. Some chicken fingers maybe?"

Matt stood up, nodding. "You got it." He gestured to Lauren, asking if she wanted something. Getting a shaking head in response he left.

* * *

"Who were they?"

Matt spun around towards the direction of the voice and saw Nikolai approaching.

"That's my family." Matt said, gesturing back to the waiting room. "My son was hurt at school today. They just happened to come to the same school as us."

Nikolai raised his brow. "Lucky for you."

Matt snorted. "Not really." He shook his head dismissively. "Have you called CTU."

"Yes. They're sending men over. We can expect them from twenty minutes to a half-hour from now." Nikolai's expression darkened. "So who from your office will be debriefing Marenkov once he's ready?"

Matt gave a solemn look. "Probably me. I've dealt with him more than anyone. He trusts me." He sighed. "I don't know what I'm going to tell him about his daughter. He's in no condition to learn the truth right now."

Matt stared down the hallway at nothing in particular. "Do you know why Andrei Marenkov became an arms dealer?"

Nikolai said nothing as Matt looked back at him. Matt was sure he already knew Marenkov's history but wanted to hear Matt anyway. "His son was a soldier just like him. He was killed in action in Chechnya about ten years ago. Marenkov just shut down. He'd lost his wife to cancer about a year earlier so his daughter was the only family he had left. I guess he felt he needed to do whatever he could to take care of her."

"I'm sure you probably know life for a Russian officer, even a senior officer, is hard. He couldn't provide much for her. At some point he started using what he knew to make a few black market deals. A couple of pieces of equipment disappeared and he'd make it look like a clerical error. He was actually pretty good at it. I don't think anyone really suspected him at first. Then he went for the big prize: He had a couple of large caches of weapons moved to a secret location, then disappeared himself. Next time he turned up, he'd been identified buying and selling military-grade hardware. I know there a few lines even he wouldn't cross, like selling to Chechnyans and certain terrorist groups, but there were quite a few he would and did.

"He tried to send most of the money he made to his daughter but she wouldn't take it. She hated what he'd become and broke of all contact with him. I know your tried to enlist her help in getting to him but she refused. She moved to Prague and later Paris" Matt lowered his head. "He thought he could help her, but he ended up throwing away everything he had for nothing, and now he's done it again."

Matt looked away. "We try to tell ourselves everything we do is to give our children a better future, but all we're doing is pushing them away." He blinked away the moisture accumulating in his eyes and shook his head. "I'm going to get something to eat."

The two men walked down the hallway towards the cafeteria, neither noticing the gaunt-looking man in scrubs watching them intently before sneaking into a closet...

* * *

"Da!" Alexi answered as he picked up the phone, Sergei and Vladimir to his right.

"_It's Boris. You were right. They took Marenkov to the hospital. Marenkov's still in surgery and there's only two men guarding him here right now but they've probably called for backup._"

Alexi smiled. "Good. We'll head out now."

"_There's something else. One of the men guarding Marenkov, you're not going to believe who it is._"

Sergei and Vladimir couldn't hear what Boris was saying on the other end, but they noticed whatever he said last caused Alexi's eyes narrow to slits and made him tighten his grip on the phone almost to the point of breaking it.

"Come!" Alexi hissed to the two of them after hanging up the phone. "We have more than one score to settle."

4:27:50 . . . 4:27:51 . . . 4:27:52 . . . 4:27:53 . . .

"Mr. President," Ambassador Ivan Andropov extended his hand as he entered the Oval Office. "Thank you for meeting with me."

President Palmer grasped the Ambassador's hand firmly before they sat. "Certainly. President Petrov said something about some of his people being involved in interfering with our efforts to secure General Marenkov. Clearly, this is a troubling revelation."

Andropov nodded solemnly. "And one that is more than likely true, I fear. What do you know about the Russian Prime Minister?"

Palmer was taken aback. "Rudenko? Popular in his country, relatively young for his position..."

"Also first in line if anything happens to President Petrov, and a very ambitious man."

Palmer shifted uncomfortably in his seat. "Ambition is hardly uncommon among politicians. I assume there's more to it than that."

"I'm afraid so. Someone like Alexi Lenkovich would have difficulty traveling undetected. He'd most likely use passports he obtained illegally. We located one of his bases a week ago. The men there knew nothing about where he was but we did find a travel visa we believe originated from the Prime Minister's office."

Mike Novick, who'd been standing quietly in the corner until now, suddenly stepped closer. "Are you telling us Rudenko is responsible for Lenkovich getting into this country?"

Andropov looked up at Mike, then back at the President. "It certainly appears that way. If Lenkovich had succeeded in abducting Marenkov, it would have been a great embarrassment to President Petrov. He's been eager to locate both of them for many years. And now the revelation that Marenkov knew the location of nuclear weapons, we may have all been placed in danger which would make the Prime Minister may be guilty of treason."

For a few moments, the room was silent as the three men said nothing.

4:34:18 . . . 4:34:19 . . . 4:34:20 . . . 4:34:21 . . .

Doug Mason was still washing his hands when one of the younger staff members stepped out of the washroom stall. What had he heard one of the women call him? Patrick, wasn't it?

The young man seemed to glance at Doug more than once. "You're...uh...you're Mr. Mason's father aren't you?"

"Uhhh...Yeah, that's me." Doug answered uncomfortably.

Patrick chuckled. "Sorry, it's just Mr. Mason's sort of a by-the-book guy. Nobody around here really knows much about him. I guess I just never really thought of him as somebody's son. You must be really proud of him."

"Yeah," Doug sighed. "I am."

Patrick smiled. "Well, this was interesting but your son gave me something to do to and I gotta make sure the job gets finished."

Doug didn't speak or move while Patrick started to walk towards the door. "Make sure the job is finished" He finally said quietly.

"Sorry, did you say something?" Patrick asked, turning around.

"Make sure the job finished." Doug repeated clearly trying to remember something. He looked at Patrick and his eyes suddenly lit up. "Oh, God, George!" Doug rushed past the confused Patrick, out of the washroom, towards George's office.

Jogging up the stairs, Doug pulled the glass door open and was rewarded with an angry from his son, sitting at his desk.

"Dad! What you think--"

"George, I remember! I remember what I heard!"

George sighed. "Look, that's great, Dad, but--"

"The Russian woman, she trying to kill that guy you picked up. I heard her on the phone. She told someone to take him out and if your guys interfere, to take them out as well."

George stood up. "Dad, this is serious."

"I know what I heard!" Doug insisted. "You gotta do something about this."

"I will." George peered out the window down at Natalya, then back up at his father, offering him an uncomfortable smile. "Thanks, Dad."

4:41:06 . . . 4:41:07 . . . 4:41:08 . . . 4:41:09 . . .

Nikolai had been looking for Matt for the last five minutes when he finally saw him walking towards Nikolai, a cold look on his face.

"Ah, there you are." Nikolai said. "I wanted to ask--"

Nikolai was totally unprepared when the shorter man slammed him against a wall, prompting an intern a few feet away to run off, probably looking for security.

"You son of a bitch!" Matt hissed. "You were gonna kill him!"

Nikolai pressed his head against the wall. This wasn't going to be pleasant.

"Was that the plan all along, hmm? Kill Marenkov so he can't talk to Lenkovich or us? Kill me and my people too if we got in the way?"

Nikolai grunted as her grabbed Matt's wrists and pulled himself free. "Yes!" He spat. "Those were my orders but I disobeyed them. They must have sent someone else to finish the job."

"It was nice of you to mention that." Matt sneered.

"I didn't have to let you live! I could have killed you both. Marenkov's information would be safe from Lenkovich and my career wouldn't have been in ruins."

Matt stepped back, trying to decide if he should still be mad at Nikolai when he noticed a gaunt-looking man watching them. He turned back to Nikolai, who was also looking at the man, and saw a look of recognition pass over the Russian's face.

"That's Boris, one of Alexi's men." Nikolai whispered.

Matt turned back to see the gaunt-looking man running off, pushing doctors and patients out of his way.

Matt immediately broke into a run after the man, but glanced back at Nikolai. "Call CTU and go check on Marenkov!" He yelled.

* * *

Boris darted around the corner and ran into a stairwell with Matt close behind. Though certainly not heavy, the Russian didn't look to be in very good shape and Matt quickly caught up with him. Matt grabbed him by his shoulders and threw him against a wall.

"Where's Alexi Lenkovich?" Matt barked.

"You're too late." Boris sneered in an accent so think it was almost unintelligible. "Alexi knows where Marenkov is. He will have him."

"Alexi's not taking Marenkov anywhere." Matt growled.

"He will," Boris continued. "With the right leverage."

Matt paused for the moment, wondering what the man was talking about. Boris took the opportunity to push Matt away and run again. Matt tried to grab his arm but Boris pulled himself away, stumbling back towards the railing and falling over the edge of the stairs. Matt heard a terrified cry echo from the stairwell and crunch at the bottom of the stairs that could only be bones breaking. He peered over the railing and saw Boris sprawled at the bottom of the stairwell, a pool of blood swelling around his head. Matt slammed his palm against the railing in frustration, then rushed back through the door.

* * *

What he saw when he emerged look more like a war zone than a hospital. Doctors, nurses, and patients were screaming and diving for cover as Nikolai, crouched behind a heart monitor, exchanged shots with what must have been another of Alexi's men.

Matt ducked down behind a bed just as the man fired shots at him. Matt looked around. There was no chance he'd get a good shot from here.

"Agent Harper!" An accented voice called out to him. For a second, he thought it was Nikolai, before realizing it wasn't his voice. _Lenkovich?_

"Hold your fire and allow us to leave" The voice continued.

"That's not gonna happen." Matt yelled back.

"Yes, it will. Take a look."

Matt peered out from behind the bed to a sight that drained the color from his face. One of Alexi's men still had a gun aimed at Nikolai; another was carrying Marenkov's slumped from, dressed in a hospital gown; while Alexi himself had pressed against him, a gun aimed his head, Danny.

Matt jumped out from his place of cover and aimed his gun straight at Alexi's head while Danny trembled. "Lenkovich, you son of a bitch, let him go!" Matt roared.

"Well, now that would be stupid of me, wouldn't it?" Alexi smiled. "We're leaving now. If you don't want anything to happen to your son, we'd best not have any trouble, yes?"

"All right, all right." Matt stammered, dropping his gun.

"Wait" said Nikolai, rising up from behind the monitor, hands raised. The man aiming at him twitched nervously. "You want hostage, Alexi? Take me. I'm the one you want."

Alexi looked at Matt, then Nikolai. "That's true", he said, thoughtfully. Suddenly a cruel smile passed over his face. "On second thought, I think I take you both. Vladimir, take him. Any sudden movement and the boy dies!"

Nikolai looked back at Matt as the six rushed past him down the stair well.

4:45:02 . . . 4:45:03 . . . 4:45:04 . . . 4:45:05 . . .

George shook his head as one of the guards escorted Natalya out of the building when a voice interrupted his train of thought.

"Sir!" Lily called over. "We're getting police reports from Santo Roberto. Something about a shoot-out."

_Oh, hell._ "Get Matt on the line!" He barked.

"Sir!" Patrick, "I found another address I was able to trace back to Marcus Reynolds. It's a house at 6384 Peyton Grove!"

* * *

Matt followed Alexi and the others down the front entrance of the hospital and watched them pile into a black van before speeding off.

"Matt!" Lauren's panicked voice emerged from behind him as she rushed up to him. "They took Danny!" she sobbed. "They took him!"

"I know, I know." Matt answered, trying to keep his voice from breaking. "We'll get him back."

His phone rang and Matt immediately picked it up. Later on, he wouldn't remember much about the conversation except the part where Tony told him where Lenkovich was.

4:54:59 . . . 4:55:00 . . . 4:55:01 . . . 4:55:02 . . .

Galina was confused as she saw them pull an adolescent boy out of the van. "What is this?" She asked. "You never said anything about kidnaping children!"

"It was leverage to get us out safely." Alexi answered as Sergei carried Marenkov towards the house. "Take Dimitri and the boy into the other room."

She was even more confused as she saw Dimitri, very much alive, being led inside by Vladimir at gunpoint. "I don't understand." She said.

"I'll explain after." Alexi said before point a gun at her.

"Marenkov!" He barked at the heap in Sergei's arms. "I still have your daughter. Tell me what I want to know and I'll spare her!"

"Nyet!" Marenkov moaned. "I will tell you anything..."

Galina stood still as the rest went inside. No matter how much she had hated her father, seeing him like that, because of her...

* * *

Matt barely said a word as McKinley and Baker drove him towards the house. Nothing mattered. Nothing but getting to Danny...

4:57:44 . . . 4:57:45 . . . 4:57:46 . . . 4:57:47 . . .

Paxton breathed a sigh of relief when Alexi finally called.

"_I have the information, but we need to get out of here now."_

Paxton nodded. "Good. I'll tell you where to go..."

4:58:12 . . . 4:58:13 . . . 4:58:14 . . . 4:58:15 . . .

Galina's heart almost stopped when she saw Alexi emerge from the room where her father was being held, his shirt stained with blood.

"What have you done? _What have you done?_"

Alexi's face was stone cold. "I've made sure we'll be the only ones to know what he knows."

Galina started breathing heavily, tears welling up in her eyes as she rushed into the room. There, Marenkov lay, blood pooling around several knife wounds in his chest.

"Father!" She sobbed, kneeling next to him as Alexi looked on. "Father!"

Marenkov managed to place a hand on her cheek. "Galina..." he choked.

"Alexi!" Sergei rushed towards them "The monitors showed CTU cars heading this."

Alexi nodded. "We have to go now!" He reached for Galina's arm but she slapped him away.

* * *

Vladimir peered through a crack in the door at the source of the shouting. It was a fatal mistake as Nikolai was able to rush him, while Danny crouched in the corner. They struggled for a moment before Nikolai was able to wrap one arm around Vladimir's neck and another over his head and twisted until he heard a snap.

Nikolai dropped the lifeless heap to the floor and turned to Danny. "Come on!"

* * *

Nikolai and Danny ran out of the room in time to see Matt and several other CTU agents rush in. Danny rushed towards his father who embraced him in a hug.

"Where Marenkov?" Matt asked, still clinging his son.

Nikolai shook his head. "I don't know. They took him in another room."

Matt passed Danny on to a female agent who took him outside, while Matt opened one of the other bedroom doors. There, he found Marenkov, barely alive in a pool of his own blood, Galina knelt sobbing beside him. Alexi was nowhere in sight.

Matt knelt down next to him. "Get a medic!" He yelled, knowing it was too late.

Marenkov managed to weakly hold up one hand to Matt. "He does not know everything." Marenkov croaked.

"Who?" Matt whispered.

"Seven... one... eight... three... two..."

Before Matt could even think to ask what that meant, Marenkov collapsed to the floor, one final breath escaping through his lips.

Matt just knelt there beside Marenkov's body, Galina weeping next to him, too caught up in everything that had just happened to even wonder what he'd just heard...

4:59:57 . . . 4:59:58 . . . 4:59:59 . . . 5:00:00 . . .

NEXT: As CTU struggled to figure out the meaning of Marenkov's final words, a revelation about Alexi's employer leads Matt to look for information from a familiar face...


	8. 5:00 PM to 6:00 PM

_24: Day 1.5_

_Previously in 24: Day 1.5 . . . _

_MATT HARPER and Nikolai were able to retrieve Marenkov but not before he was badly wounded by an unidentified shooter. Doug Mason, who was visiting his son GEORGE MASON at CTU overheard a conversation between two Russian agents and discovered they were responsible. President DAVID PALMER was paid a visit from the Russian ambassador who relayed information from the Russian President that his Prime Minister may have been involved helping ALEXI LENKOVICH sneak into the United States. Alexi managed to abduct Marenkov from the hospital using Nikolai and Matt's son Danny as hostages. Matt and a CTU team were able to retrieve Nikolai and Danny as well as Marenkov and his daughter Galina, but not before Alexi obtained the information he needed. He fled after fatally stabbing Marenkov. Just before he died, Marenkov cryptically whispered to Matt the numbers "seven, one, eight, three, two . . . "_

_The following takes place between 5:00 P.M. and 6:00 P.M._

5:00:00 . . . 5:00:01 . . . 5:00:02 . . . 5:00:03 . . .

Matt walked out of the house feeling about ten years older than when he entered it. _At least Danny's safe_, he thought. Even looking at his son, sitting in one of the CTU vehicles under the watchful eye of one of the field agents, he couldn't escape the realization that Marenkov was dead and Lenkovich had escaped, no doubt with whatever information he'd wanted from Marenkov.

_Laurie was right. I put work before everything._

Shaking himself out of his brief indulgence of self-pity, Matt turned to one of the field agents. "Baker! Does my wife know Danny's safe yet?"

Baker shook his head. "I don't think so."

"Well make sure she does." Matt answered sharply. "And I want her and my son taken over to CTU immediately!"

Baker nodded before looking up to see the senior field agent, Dan McKinley leading Galina Marenkov out of the building, a firm grip on her arm. Matt immediately walked over and leaned as close to her as he could.

"Where's Alexi Lenkovich going?" He whispered coldly.

Galina, her face stained with tears didn't look up at him but only shook her head. "I don't know. He never told us where we were going." There was barely any inflection in her voice, as she'd been almost completely drained of strength.

McKinley looked at Galina suspiciously, then at Matt. "What do you think?"

"I think she's telling the truth," He glared at her. "For once. I want her taken back to CTU as well."

Matt picked up his phone and hit one of the numbers on speed dial. This wasn't going to be a pleasant conversation but he couldn't worry about that now.

* * *

"Mason."

"_George, it's Matt._"

"Matt! What the hell's going on?" George barked. "I've had a dozen field agents moving in on Alexi Lenkovich's safe house and next thing I know they're telling me Lenkovich got away and Marenkov's dead!"

George heard Matt sigh over the phone. _"That correct, but we have Galina Marenkov in custody. I'm having her brought over here now." _A pause._ "George, there's something else. There was a five-digit number Marenkov said to me right before he died: Seven-one-eight-three-two. We need to cross reference that with everything we have on Marenkov."_

George snorted. "Yeah, sure, Matt, let's track down this number while Lenkovich is still out there with the location of weapons."

"_I don't think Lenkovich has the location."_ Matt answered sharply, _"at least not all the information he needs. In any case, we still have Marenkov's daughter. I'll need an interrogation room set up by the time I get there."_

"Wait a minute, wait a minute. You can't seriously think you're gonna be the one to interrogate her. Your son was just kidnaped, and she was working with the guy's who kidnaped him. You really think I'm gonna leave you alone in a room with her."

"_Danny is fine now, and we don't have time to bring another field agent up to speed. Look, George, I give you my word I will keep my cool in there with her."_

"Really? Well, when you put it like that . . . no! But what I will do is let you and Tony conduct the interrogation together."

"_Fine, fine. We'll be there in ten minutes. I'm having my wife and son brought over too. I'll want the doctors to take a look at Danny when he gets there."_

"Great, good, see you in ten minutes." George answered curtly before hanging up the phone and turning to Tony. "Tony, Matt's bringing Galina Marenkov in here in about ten minutes. The two of you conduct the interrogation."

Tony nodded. "Got it."

"Oh, and Tony?" He added, giving a familiar sarcastic smirk. "I never thanked you for recommending Matt for a job here. He's really made the days here more interesting."

Tony gave George an annoyed look before walking off.

5:06:17 . . . 5:06:18 . . . 5:06:19 . . . 5:06:20 . . .

Mike felt it was time to break the silence. "Mr. President, you been, well . . . pretty quiet since your meeting with the Ambassador."

Palmer waited a few moments, then looked up at his chief of staff. "I keep going over the implications in my mind. Andropov basically accused his own Prime Minister of collaborating with terrorists, men who've tried to abduct a defecting arms dealer for their own gain, men who've most likely already killed several of our agents"

Mike sighed. "Well at the risk of troubling you even further, have you stopped to consider the possibility that Andropov was misdirecting our attention toward Prime Minister Rudenko? Rudenko's been an up-and-comer in Russia for the last few years and I'm sure he's accumulated a long list of enemies over the years who'd be happy to see him accused of something like this."

Palmer leaned back in his chair. "The obvious implication there would be that the Ambassador was responsible and is trying to frame Rudenko."

Mike shrugged. "It's not implausible. As Russian ambassador to the United States, it'd be at least as easy for Andropov to get Lenkovich's people into the country as it would be for Rudenko."

Palmer shook his head until a disturbing thought entered his mind. "It's also possible President Petrov knew about this since he sent Andropov to see us to begin with." Palmer's right hand, laying on the desk, clenched into a fist. "One or more of these people may have jeopardized our national security for their own political gain."

Mike leaned in closer. "Of course, this is just speculation until we can get some proof."

Palmer gave Mike a hard look. "Well, then let's get some proof. We have people working in Moscow. Find one of them suitable to this task."

Mike nodded solemnly. "Yes, Mr. President."

5:13:41 . . . 5:13:42 . . . 5:13:43 . . . 5:13:44 . . .

Matt watched his son burst into a run as his mother appeared around the corner. Lauren rushed toward him herself and hugged him Matt continued watching wistfully from a few feet away until Lauren extended him a hand, pulling him into their embrace.

"We're going to have the doctor check you both out." Matt finally said after a moment. "I'll be in to check on you in a few minutes." Matt looked up in time to see Galina, now in handcuffs, being led toward one of the interrogation rooms.

As another agent led Lauren and Danny away, Matt saw Tony approaching him. "How are they doing?"

Matt glanced back at his wife and son for a moment. "They'll be all right. Did Mason bring you up to speed?"

"Yeah." Tony nodded. "We're still cross-referencing those numbers you gave us on anything connected to Marenkov. Nothing yet. But while you were getting here, the field team was able to access some of Lenkovich's surveillance equipment. We've got logs of everything they saw."

"Yeah?" Matt looked down for a moment, seemingly lost in thought, then looked up at Tony. "I want to talk to the team before we go in with her. There's something I want them to see if they can find."

5:20:06 . . . 5:20:07 . . . 5:20:08 . . . 5:20:09 . . .

Galina barely looked up as Matt and Tony walked into the room.

"Hello, Galina." Matt said calmly. "We were never actually introduced. I'm Agent Harper. I'm the man whose job it was to bring your father in safely. This is Agent Almeida."

Galina finally raised her head and fixed an icy stare at both agents. "I come from Russia. I know how this works."

Tony folded in arms. "Do you?"

"You can interrogate me or torture me do whatever you're going to do. I don't care. I have nothing to lose now."

Matt shook his head. "I don't think that's true. I think there's one thing you still have." He waited until she was looking at him before continuing. "A conscience. You might have been angry enough at your father to suppress it for a while, but it's there"

Galina chuckled. "You're almost as deluded as Alexi."

"Am I?" Matt pulled a photo out of the folder he was carrying and placed it on the desk in front of her. "We recovered this from the logs in Alexi's surveillance equipment. This was taken at one of the stops Alexi forced your father to make on the way to getting to you. The image was magnified and enhanced, of course." The photo, showed a middle-aged black man, well-dressed, in his car, anxiously looking out the window.

"This is Paul Garrett. He was forty-four years old. He worked in a tax attorney's office for the last nine years. He had a wife named Cassie and two daughters: Valerie's fifteen and Lillian's twelve. Your father took Paul hostage at gunpoint this morning because he was desperate to get to you."

Matt never took his gaze off Galina. "While this image was taken, we were able to see your father arguing with someone on the phone, I'm assuming Alexi. Something he said to your father made him very distraught. A minute later he pulled out his gun and shot Paul."

Matt pulled another photo out of the folder and placed it next to the first one. Galina held her breath as she looked at it. On it was the same car, though a massive splatter of blood now covered the windshield. From the camera angle, she was able to see Paul slumped over the steering wheel.

"Paul Garrett didn't have anything to do with this." Tony added. "He wasn't an arms dealer. He didn't work for your father or Alexi. He was just someone in the wrong place and the wrong time. Your father was forced to kill him because he thought _you'd_ be killed if he didn't."

"You've made a lot of mistakes, Galina." Matt said softly. "But you still have a chance to do the right thing here."

Galina held a hand up to her head, suddenly looking even more weary. "What do you want from me?"

"Who is Alexi Lenkovich working for? Who is he trying to get a nuclear device for?" Matt asked.

"He never told Alexi or me why he wanted it." She answered. "I always figured he was getting it for someone else?"

"What's his name?" Matt asked, his voice harder this time.

Galina gave Tony a glance before turning back to Matt. "Alan Paxton."

Galina didn't notice when Tony's eyes widened slightly but Matt did. "What?"

Galina gave Tony a confused look. "You're sure about that name?" He asked.

"I'm sure."

Tony gave Matt the slightest gesture to follow before walking out the door. "Tony, what's going on?" He asked as they walked away from the interrogation room. "You know that name."

Before Tony could answer, George walked up to them. "You get something from her already? That's a nice change."

Tony nodded. "Yeah, get this: She says the man Alexi Lenkovich was working for was Alan Paxton."

George's smirk dropped away. "You're kidding, right? Alan Paxton?"

"That's what she said."

Matt looked at both men. "Will someone tell me what the hell is going on? Who's Alan Paxton?"

"You heard about those agents who got busted for taking bribes?" Tony asked.

Matt nodded. "A little bit."

"There were three of them: Seth Campbell, Andy Kowalski, and Alan Paxton"

"So you're saying this Paxton guy's gone dirty?"

George shook his head. "No, see it can't be Paxton because Paxton's dead."

Matt squinted his eyes. "How?"

"About a week after the attempted hit on Palmer, Paxton was being transferred to another prison when his bus hit a fuel truck. The whole thing went up like a Roman candle. Paxton and eight other people were killed."

"And they were sure Paxton died in the explosion?"

George shrugged. "There's wasn't much left, but they were able to match up one of the bodies with dental records."

Matt's mind was already racing. "Records can be falsified."

"You might be right" Tony said. "If that's the case, it means that accident was planned. If Paxton was working for someone else and they were trying to break him out of prison and fake his death, they did a pretty good job."

"Wait, wait, wait, before we risk a wild goose chase, are we sure this girl's telling us the truth? It's not like it'd be the first lie she told."

Matt shook his head. "I don't think so. She's dealing with the fact that she was used by Alexi Lenkovich and that he just murdered her father. Frankly, I don't think she has the will to lie to us right now. Besides which, why would she pick the name of a supposedly dead agent she shouldn't have even heard of otherwise?"

George nodded. "Okay then, let me get this straight: this supposedly dead agent, who we thought was just on the take, may in fact be alive and working to help someone get their hands on a nuclear weapon." George rolled his eyes. "Who needs a cushy job in D.C. when I've got this?"

5:28:20 . . . 5:28:21 . . . 5:28:22 . . . 5:28:23 . . .

From behind his desk, Paxton nodded to Alexi as he entered the office, though his gaze darkened as he saw another man walking in behind him.

Alexi raised a hand. "This is Sergei. He's with me. I've explained the situation to him"

Paxton folded his arms and looked disapprovingly at Sergei. "Yes, you seem to be very generous with that information."

Sergei recoiled slightly but Alexi didn't flinch. "I couldn't afford to lose any more of my people."

"If you have what you instructed to get, you'll be surprised what you can afford." Paxton replied, smiling slightly. "Speaking of which . . ."

Paxton rose from his chair and walked around to face Alexi. Looking at Paxton, Alexi was reminded what an unassuming man he appeared to be. The man was forty-ish with neatly-combed hair and a clean shaven-face. He was also taller by a few inches than Alexi, making him of average height. He'd certainly have no trouble blending into a crowd. Between that and his rather stoic demeanor, Alexi wondered if the man had a background in intelligence.

Alexi sighed. "Marenkov told me everything. And he won't be telling anyone else." A cruel smile passed over his lips. "I made sure of that myself."

Paxton nodded, his face betraying no emotion. "Good. Now, where is it?"

"Marenkov had the locations of all his weapons, including the one we're looking for, on a disc. That disc is in a storage locker on 5311 Xander Bay, number 16."

"Good." Paxton pressed a button on the table. A moment later, in walked a cold-looking man with jet-black hair and a goatee. Paxton glanced at his watch. "Willem and I should be back here within the hour."

Alexi furrowed his brow. "What? I'm coming with you! You think I'm just going to let you take the disc alone?"

Paxton gave a faint sigh. "Have some common sense, Alexi. Right now, you're the most wanted man in Los Angeles. Frankly, I'd just as soon not risk being seen with such a high-profile face." He offered Alexi's glaring face a smile. "Not to worry. If all goes well, you'll soon be on your way back to Europe with enough money to buy one of those petty little countries you sold arms to."

Alexi didn't take his eyes of Paxton and Willem as they walked toward the door, two muscled men in suits emerging first and planting themselves near Alexi and Sergei. "So I'm supposed to just trust you not to screw me over?"

Paxton continued toward the door, not even looking back at him. "Yes, basically, that's it."

"And just why should I do that?" Alexi asked between his teeth.

Paxton stopped and turned his head just enough to see Alexi in the corner of his eye. "Because I've learned the hard way what greed can get you."

5:38:45 . . . 5:38:46 . . . 5:38:47 . . . 5:38:48 . . .

"Mr. President, I think we have a way to get some better information out of Moscow."

President Palmer looked up from his desk as Mike walked into the Oval Office with a folder. "What have you got, Mike?"

Mike handed the folder to the President. "The CIA has an agent named Walter Clark who's been working undercover there for the past two years. Apparently he's very good at getting senior officials there to talk to him."

Palmer looked over the paper, a detailed file on Clark, and nodded. "Good. I want to talk to him at the first available opportunity."

Mike smiled. "I had a feeling you might. I've already contacted him and told he to expect your call."

_

* * *

Moscow, Russia_

From his bedroom window, Walter Clark looked at the trio of prostitutes at the street corner across from his apartment. At quarter to four in the morning, it finally seemed to register with them that no one was coming by to pick them up, since they were starting to walk away.

There wasn't much else to do at this hour, while waiting for the President's phone call. Mike Novick had already told him pretty much everything he needed to know, but Clark was eager for a chance to speak directly to the new Commander-in-Chief. He knew Palmer's history and politics as well as anyone but Clark had always felt a spoken conversation told him as much about someone as any file.

He answered the phone slowly when it finally rang. "_Agent Clark?_" A feminine voice asked.

"Yes." Clark answered calmly.

"_Please hold for the President._"

A moment later, David Palmer's deep but pleasant voice came through. "_Agent Clark?_"

"Yes, Mr. President."

"_I assume Mike Novick has already brought you up to speed on the situation._"

Clark leaned back in his chair. "Yes, sir. This is very serious."

"_We have several of Russia's highest leaders accusing each other of helping terrorists get into this country. If we accuse officials of something like this without evidence it could backfire on us, so we need you to start accumulating information on who could have done this and who would be inclined to do so._"

Clark nodded. "Yes, sir, I'll start immediately. Obviously at this hour, several officials will be unreachable but a few I should be able to get through to. I'll report my findings to Mr. Novick in, say two hours?"

"_Very good and be careful._"

Clark smiled. "Mr. President, I've been observing Russian politics at extreme close range for more than two years. Discretion has become second nature to me."

Clark's mind raced once he'd hung up the phone with the President. Petrov would have retired to bed by this point. Clark would have to wait a few hours to talk to him. Rudenko, however,was known to work well into the next morning.

Clark leaned over his desk as he head Rudenko answer the phone. "Mr. Prime Minister?" Clark asked in flawless Russian.

"_Piotr?_" Rudenko asked on the other end, also in Russian. "_It's good to hear from you again, my friend._"

"Likewise. I wonder if I might have a moment of your time . . . "

5:51:14 . . . 5:51:15 . . . 5:51:16 . . . 5:51:17 . . .

Matt walked from the terminals Lily and Michelle were working at over to Patrick, who hadn't moved from his desk in fifteen minutes.

Matt looked at Patrick's computer screen. "Have you found anything useful in Paxton's file yet?"

Patrick shook his head. "Not particularly. The man was forty-one, single, no kids, no living relatives. He worked here for six years, another six with the CIA before that. He was a hard worker with high praise from everyone he worked under but he was distant and made it hard for anyone to get a good read on him."

Matt nodded. "Yeah. Tony mentioned some of that too. He said the guy was a bit of rising star here before he got busted." As Patrick scrolled down the screen, a name caught Matt's eye and he pointed to it. "_That's_ who arrested Paxton?" Matt raised an eyebrow. "Tony didn't mention that."

"Yeah, that was my reaction too." Patrick paused. "You know, if he built a case against Paxton and the others, he was probably watching them pretty closely for a while. He'd definitely be worth talking to."

Matt sighed. "You're probably right. Unfortunately he'd probably hang up on me unless I went to see him in personand Mason's not gonna be inclined to let me talk to him anyway."

"Probably not." Patrick blinked. "Unless, you tell him you're following up a lead but don't tell him what it is."

Matt leaned in closer. "Look, I appreciate your enthusiasm but you're still a little new here for your boss to tolerate you sneaking around behind his back, and frankly so am I."

"Come on." Patrick whispered. "It's almost impossible to find anything on this guy. If we need to catch Paxton, don't you think talking to someone who already has would be a good place to start?"

Matt said nothing and looked up at George's office. From the window, he could see George talking to someone on the phone, probably Chappelle or Hammond. He quickly glanced back at Paxton's file again, scanning it over until he found something useful. "All right. I'll tell George I'm looking up one Paxton's old handlers at the CIA. One of them still lives here in L.A. He should be all right with that."

* * *

Sitting on a bench in a hallway outside the clinic, Nikolai had felt like something of a lost child since he was brought back to CTU. The doctor had checked him out and cleared him but that Mason fellow apparently no longer wanted him anywhere near the office. It didn't take a genius to figure out that since Natalya Tenyakova's deception, people here didn't trust him anymore, despite Harper's vouching for him.

Natalya was probably still had a great deal of explaining to do to her own superiors for the moment and was less interested in his whereabouts, not that he was eager to deal with her again. Still, having been cut off from this agency and in no hurry to return to his own, he was feeling rather isolated.

He was quite puzzled when he saw a woman with long red hair walking toward him. Instantly, he recognized her as the woman from the hospital. The one Harper had been following. What was she doing here?

"Excuse me, Agent Torumov?" She asked when she reached him.

"Yes?" He answered, standing.

"I'm Lauren Harper, Agent Harper's . . . wife"

_That explains it_, Nikolai thought, though he wondered why she'd been so indecisive about identifying herself as his wife. Some marital problems, perhaps?

She gave him a slight smile. "I just wanted to thank you for helping to rescue our son."

Nikolai nodded softly. This hadn't been an easy assignment. In the last eight hours, he'd been forced to watch the murder of two innocent men because of Alexi Lenkovich. Now, the man had murdered Andrei Marenkov as well and was still at large, likely with information as to the location of a nuclear weapon. It was some comfort to Nikolai that he'd at least been able to do some good today.

"I'm relieved I was able to help him." Nikolai answered solemnly. "I was quite impressed with your husband today. He is a fine agent. You must be proud."

Lauren suddenly looked somewhat uncomfortable. "Yes . . . I . . . I am."

Nikolai's speculation as to what was going on with these two was interrupted as he saw Matt hurrying down the hallway towards them.

"Matt!" He called. "Is everything all right?"

"I'm fine." He answered hurriedly. "I'm following up on a lead right now." He looked anxiously at Lauren. "Laurie, I know I said I'd check up on you and Danny--"

Lauren put a hand on his arm and offered him a faint smile. "It's all right. Go."

Matt gave each of them a nod before heading off.

* * *

Patrick swallowed as he saw Lily walking toward his terminal, a file in hand.

"Do you know where Matt is? I wanted to run something by him with those numbers he gave us."

Patrick shifted uncomfortably in his seat. "He's, um, following up on a lead."

Lily wrinkled her nose. "A lead? Where?"

"Uhhh . . . one of Paxton's CIA handlers."

Lily gave him a puzzled look. "Well that's strange. I mentioned the CIA handlers to him before. He didn't think they were worth pursuing."

Patrick continued shifting. "Well . . . m-maybe he changed his mind."

Lily face suddenly darkened as she crossed her arms. "You were always a terrible liar, Pat."

Patrick shrank away slightly.

"Where is he really going, Patrick?" She whispered harshly. "Don't make me pull rank on you."

Patrick leaned in closer. "Look. You cannot tell Mason about this, all right?"

She looked at him intently. "What is it?"

Patrick sighed. "There didn't seem to be anyone connected to Paxton that would be able to tell us anything useful about the guy. Then Matt and I got the idea of talking to the agent who arrested Paxton in the first place."

Lily shook her head in confusion. "The agent who . . . wait a minute that's--"

"I know." Patrick whispered solemnly. "That's why Matt couldn't tell Mason. He's going to talk to Jack Bauer."

5:59:57 . . . 5:59:58 . . . 5:59:59 . . . 6:00:00 . . .

NEXT: CTU desperately tries to hunt down Paxton and Alexi while Matt tries to convince an uncooperative Jack Bauer to tell him what he knows.


	9. 6:00 PM to 7:00 PM

_Author's note: Another delay. Sorry, but at least this one's a long one. Notice the new synopsis? _

_24: Day 1.5_

_Previously in 24: Day 1.5 . . . _

_Marenkov was abducted from the hospital by ALEXI LENKOVICH and his men. MATT HARPER and Nikolai managed to track them back to Alexi's safe house and take Marenkov's daughter GALINA MARENKOV into custody, but Alexi escaped with Marenkov's information and Marenkov himself was fatally wounded. Just before dying, Marenkov uttered the numbers "seven-one-eight-three-two". While CTU struggled to figure out the meaning of these numbers, Matt and Tony interrogated Galina. She told them she didn't know where Alexi was going but the name of his employer was ALAN PAXTON. Matt learned from GEORGE MASON that Paxton was one of three former CTU agents who were arrested for taking bribes, but Paxton was thought to have died months ago. With no other leads to follow, Matt decides to pay an unauthorized visit to the man who arrested Paxton to begin with: another ex-CTU agent, named Jack Bauer . . . _

_The following takes place between 6:00 P.M. and 7:00 P.M._

6:00:00 . . . 6:00:01 . . . 6:00:02 . . . 6:00:03 . . .

Lily rushed back to her terminal as she saw Mason walking down. It may have been paranoia on her part but she didn't like the looks he'd been giving her and Patrick all day and didn't want to do anything to make him more suspicious. She didn't know for sure what his policy one office romances were but given what the last one in this office had led to, she wasn't taking any chances.

She watched Mason walk past them and head towards one of the waiting rooms, maybe to spend a minute with the man Patrick had told her was Mason's father. As soon as he was out of sight, Patrick looked up from his computer and flashed her an "all clear" look. Lily simply shot him a look of disapproval and turned back to her station.

What he'd just told her was unbelievable. What was Matt thinking, trying to talk to Jack Bauer? Setting aside the fact that the man probably wouldn't give Matt the time of day, Bauer had also been effectively off-limits to anyone but officials from the hearings held immediately after the attempted hit on Palmer during the California primary last year. She even remembered seeing an interview with Palmer just after the primary where he basically asked people to respect the privacy of Bauer and his family and leave them alone to grieve. She couldn't speak for the press, but she suspected most government officials weren't in a hurry to get on the new President's bad side by disobeying him on that, least of all George Mason, whom she'd overheard more than once talking about some new job Palmer was supposed to get for him.

What bothered her even more, however, was the fact that Patrick had basically helped Matt to go see him. She'd known Patrick had looked up to Matt a bit. Being the youngest analyst here and, except for Michelle, the newest, the fact that he'd been eager to learn from Matt hadn't surprised her. This was going too far, though. She'd never expect something like this from Matt of all people, and what's worse, he let Patrick help him do it. On top of that, she now knew it as well, meaning he'd put her at risk along with Patrick. _And for what? What use could a burned-out agent like Jack Bauer be to this investigation anyway?_

_I plan to be here for a long time, and I'm not going to let Matt Harper or anyone else threaten that._

6:09:13 . . . 6:09:14 . . . 6:09:15 . . . 6:09:16 . . .

At a time when he should have been watching over his people like a hawk as they tried to figure out what Marenkov's number's meant, George Mason found himself actually heading over to one of the waiting rooms to chat with his father. _It's amazing what guilt can make you do._ He thought.

"All right, Dad. Five minutes. What's up?"

Doug Mason shrugged. "I don't need five minutes, George. I just wanted to say I think it's time I headed out. I know I'm just in the way here and, frankly, it's a little more excitement then I'm used to these days."

George sighed. "Look, Dad, it's just--"

"You remember Joe Miller, my old Lieutenant when I was working Homicide?" Doug interrupted. "He had Alzheimer's, lived with it for almost a decade. Last time I saw him, he was just a couple of years into it. He was asking me how I was coming on cases I cleared thirty years ago. His wife said by the end he didn't remember the job, his kids, her. I just... I just don't know how long I got or bad it's gonna get."

The elder Mason put a hand on his son's shoulder. His moist eyes were the closest he'd seen to his father shedding tears, even when his mother died. "I guess I'm just trying to think of anything I should say while I can still say it. The only thing I can think of is don't make my mistakes. Talk to your son. No matter how much time you got, you never got as much as you think you will."

George did his best to hide his discomfort as his father's frail hands pulled him into a hug. "I love you, son." The old man whispered.

It lasted no more than a few seconds, all the while George hoping no one else saw them, before they parted. Doug picked up the jacket he'd draped over one of the chairs and headed towards the door.

"Um... hang on a sec, Dad." George began awkwardly. "I'll get someone to escort you out."

Doug turned and offer a slight smile. "I know the way." Turning his gaze back toward the exit, he headed out..

6:15:21 . . . 6:15:22 . . . 6:15:23 . . . 6:15:24 . . .

Matt sighed as he pulled up near Jack Bauer's place. There was no car parked out front and the lights were out. Obviously he wasn't there. _So much for doing this quickly._

He turned off the engine and leaned back in his seat. He wasn't going back to CTU without what he'd come here for, so all he could do was wait.

Involuntarily his thoughts shifted back to Lauren and Danny. His son had just been taken hostage at gunpoint. He'd also just had to witness a man being killed right in front of him. Not that he thought Nikolai had been wrong to do what he did, but he worried how that was going to affect Danny. _And instead of being there for my son, here I am, lying in wait to pry information out of a man who, by all rights, shouldn't have to deal with anyone from CTU ever again. No matter how much I tell myself this is something that needs to be done, all I can think about is what I'm missing._

Matt hoped Bauer would show up soon, because his thoughts were becoming increasingly depressing.

6:19:46 . . . 6:19:47 . . . 6:19:48 . . . 6:19:49 . . .

Sitting in a chair in the corner of the room, Alexi glanced over at the two muscled corporate thugs guarding door at the other end before turning back to Sergei. "You and I have to figure out how we're going get past them and out of here before Paxton gets back." Alexi whispered in Russian.

Sergei winkled his nose. "I don't understand."

Alexi shook his head. "It's quite simple. Paxton's keeping us alive until he's sure he's got the disc. Once he does, we become a liability to him, and for men like him liabilities are quickly dealt with."

Sergei shifted uncomfortably in his seat. "What can we do?"

Alexi squared his jaw. "I'm thinking." Giving the thugs another quick glance. "We could probably take one of them out but not both."

Alexi's mind began racing, as he remembered that Sergei was not only a programmer, but an engineer as well. Subtly, he pulled his phone and handed it to Sergei. "I'll take a look in the bathroom and see what I can find." He whispered.

6:26:20 . . . 6:26:21 . . . 6:26:22 . . . 6:26:23 . . .

Matt wasn't sure when he saw the SUV pull up that it was Bauer. It was a bit large for a man living on his own. _But it's a decent size for a man who has a wife and kid,_ he reminded himself.

The second the man emerged from the car, Matt knew it was him. He and Jack Bauer had never actually been introduced, but he had watched one of the hearings after the attempt on Palmer's life. The man here looked almost nothing like that man though. His loose-fitting shirt and jeans, along with several months worth of beard suggested a man who did the bare minimum to present himself to the world. They certainly didn't suggest a man of his military and intelligence background. It also didn't make Jack appear more likely to help Matt out.

It didn't matter though. He had a job to do.

Matt found himself already out of his own SUV, working towards Jack. He turned towards Matt with a look Matt couldn't decide was suspicion or indifference.

"Agent Bauer!" He called out, immediately giving away the fact that he was a federal agent, though he suspected Jack had made him as such the moment he saw him.

Jack didn't say a word.

"Agent Bauer." Matt continued as he walked up to the man, pulling out his ID. "Agent Matt Harper, CTU."

Jack's look remained unchanged. "I know who you are, Agent Harper, and I have nothing to say to you. I don't work for CTU anymore."

Matt nodded patiently, already aware this was going to be an uphill battle. "I understand that, but there's something I need to ask you about."

Matt saw what he thought was a faint smile on his face. "Look, Agent Harper, I realize you're just doing your job, but that job's cost me too much. So you can tell George Mason or Ryan Chappelle or Alberta Green or whoever sent you that--"

"CTU doesn't know I'm here." _Well, it's out now_, he thought.

Even Jack let his eyes narrow slightly. "What?"

"If Mason knew what I was doing here, I probably wouldn't be working for CTU anymore either. But the fact is there's an individual we're trying to profile and right now and you're about the only person who might have some useful information on him."

What looked like a smile appeared on Jack's face, but it certainly didn't look friendly. "And who would that be?"

Matt steeled himself. "A former CTU agent: Alan Paxton, one of the agents you brought down for taking bribes."

The pseudo-smile disappeared from Jack's face, replaced by a look of impatience. "Alan Paxton is dead." Jack said curtly.

"Not if what I've heard in the past hour is true. Over the past eight hours we've been looking for a Russian arms dealer who was responsible for the death of a rival who intended to surrender himself to us. We managed to apprehend one of his associates who implicated Alan Paxton as the dealer's current employer. I can't go into the details but we believe he's trying to obtain a cache of weapons that the murdered rival was holding."

Jack stared in disbelief. "That's your only source? The associate of an arms dealer who's probably messing with you?"

Matt didn't back down. "How could she know who he was? Until today she'd had no connection to CTU. Until a few days ago she'd never even been to the US. This isn't a martyr or a fanatic we're talking about. She knows it's in her best interests to cooperate with us."

Jack didn't look convinced in the least. "You come to my home trying to question me and that's all you've got? This conversion's over, and as far as I'm concerned Alan Paxton is still dead."

Jack turned and started walking back towards his house. Matt felt one of his fists clench. Normally he would have had more composure when dealing with someone who didn't want to talk. _But that was when I had the luxury of time._ "With all due respect, Jack, that's what we thought about Victor Drazen." He called out sharply.

Jack stopped and Matt braced himself, not sure what a man in Jack's situation might do. As responses go, Matt probably couldn't have picked a riskier one. Victor Drazen had been a Serbian war criminal that was presumed killed in Operation Nightfall, a strike mission Jack had led nearly three years ago, a mission only Jack had survived. It was later learned that Drazen had not died in the attack, though his wife and daughter had. Together with his sons, Drazen had waited until the two-year anniversary of the mission to strike back as Bauer and then-Senator Palmer, who had authorized the mission. Their plan ultimately failed and Drazen and his sons were killed, Drazen at Jack's hand. Over the course of the incident, however, it was revealed that an agent at CTU had been working as a mole for Drazen. With her cover blown, she attempted to flee. Jack stopped her, but not before she killed Jack's wife Teri, who had apparently discovered her escape route. Given that, Matt could hardly fault Jack for blaming CTU and walking away from it, but it didn't change the fact that he needed the man's cooperation.

Whether this was a good way to go about getting it remained to be seen.

Jack turned back to Matt slightly. "If you think you can goad me into helping you, you don't know damn thing about me."

"I understand you've lost someone, Jack, and I am sorry for that, but--"

"Have you ever lost someone, Agent Harper?" Matt was taken aback by he question. He'd buried both his parents but a loss like Jack's? He continued before Matt could even consider a response. "Have you ever had someone taken from you, at the hands of someone you thought you could trust with your life, in a place you thought they couldn't be safer?"

"No. I haven't" Matt answered. What else could he say?

Jack nodded in acknowledgment. "Then, like I said, you don't know anything about me. I lost my wife at CTU. I almost lost my daughter. She and I have barely spoken since then. I'm _not_ dealing with CTU anymore." With that, he continued towards the house.

_If he walks through that door, you've lost him and you'll never get him back._ The thought flashed through Matt's mind as he struggled to form a response. "You're right." He finally said, softly. "I don't know what you've gone through and I hope to God I never do. But I'll bet you know me. You know I have a job to do, and I can't leave here, I _won't_ leave here until I do."

Matt had no idea if that had done anything, but at least he wasn't walking towards the door anymore. "I'll tell you what I can about Paxton on one condition."

Matt looked at him, already knowing what that would be.

Jack gave Matt a hard look. "You will _never_ bother me or my daughter again. This is the last thing I ever do for CTU."

Matt nodded. He couldn't very well tell CTU never to talk to Jack again, since he couldn't tell them he'd been there. But he could had least make his own promise to the man. He only hoped they had more decency than he had to leave him alone.

"Thank you, Jack." Matt said, suddenly feeling quite sad and not knowing for sure why.

6:43:32 . . . 6:43:33 . . . 6:43:34 . . . 6:43:35 . . .

Tony had barely move from his station for over nine hours and this probably wasn't the best time to start but suspected he'd feel a lot better once he saw Lauren.

Heading towards the clinic, he hadn't expected to still see Agent Nikolai Torumov waiting just outside. He'd figured the FSB agent had left after admitting that his counterpart, Agent Natalya Tenyakova, had been attempting to kill Marenkov to keep his information from falling into Alexi's hands, and possibly CTU's as well. Then again, he wasn't surprised that the tall Russian wasn't eager to return to his office after doing that. He'd apparently gained Matt's trust, especially after saving his son, and probably hoped he could still find some use around here.

Tony felt for the guy but didn't think there was really anything else he could do here, and it didn't seem appropriate for him to stay since they apparently weren't working with the Russians anymore. He didn't think it was appropriate for him to ask him to leave though. Matt or George should probably be the one to do that. For the moment, he didn't see any harm in letting the man stay here. In fact, he seem to be staying close to Lauren and Danny, perhaps feeling protective of Matt's son. _If it makes him feel like he's still got some good to do, why not?_

Nikolai looked up at Tony from the bench he was sitting on. "Lauren and Danny are still in there?" Tony asked.

Nikolai nodded awkwardly. "_Da._ The doctor said they were both fine, but I think they prefer to stay here where they know it is safe."

Tony gave Nikolai a nod in acknowledgment and went in. Danny and Lauren sat on a pair of chairs in front of an operating table, probably waiting for a doctor to return with some tests. Danny's right arm was still in a cast while his left hand was in his mother's.

Lauren, a look of concern over her face, suddenly lit up as she saw Tony approaching. "Tony!" she said, both of them getting up. She smiled slightly as Tony pulled her into a hug.

"Hey, Laurie. I just wanted to see how the two of you were doing." He said after releasing her.

Lauren smiled. "Well as good as can be expected." She looked down at Danny. "You remember Tony Almeida, don't you?"

Danny nodded. "You went to school with my parents, didn't you?"

"That's right." Tony said, shaking the boy's good hand. Tony had rarely been around kids for most of his life. It always seemed strange how much they remember.

At that moment, the doctor, a short, thirty-something Asian woman, entered the room. "We're ready for Danny now, Mrs. Harper." She said.

Danny and the doctor walked towards the other room. Lauren started to follow when Danny turned to her. "It's all right, Mom. I think I can do it by myself."

Lauren paused tentatively. "Are you sure?"

Danny smiled and nodded. "Yeah. I'll be fine." The doctor put a reassuring had on Danny's back and led him into the other room.

Once Tony was sure Danny was out of earshot, he turned back to Lauren. "So how are you really feeling?"

The brave smile Lauren was wearing quickly faded away. "Like somebody just tore a piece of something out of me." She gestured to the other room. "I just can't believe he doesn't seem traumatized."

Tony gave a facial shrug. "I guess kids are a little more resilient." He placed a hand on her shoulder. "Are you gonna be all right?"

Lauren sighed. "I'll manage." Her expression lightened again. "So how are you doing? I haven't seen you since Matt started working here."

"I know. I was sorry to hear about the two of you. If it was because I helped him get a job here--"

Lauren put a hand up. "No. No. Things haven't been great for a while. That had nothing to do with you." Tony doubted that was really the case. "So what about you? Last I heard, you were seeing someone here. What was her name? Nina?"

Tony shifted uncomfortably. "That uhhh... didn't work out."

"Oh, I'm sorry."

Tony shook his head. "It's all right. I'm fine. I was one worrying about you two, remember?"

Lauren chuckled. "Yeah, I do. Thanks, Tony."

He leaned in a bit closer. "Can I ask you something? Did you ever tell Matt about us?"

Lauren paused, then shook her head. "No, no. That would've been awkward back then and it'd still be kind of strange now, especially now that you're working together."

Tony nodded. "Okay. Well that's probably for the best."

6:49:02 . . . 6:49:03 . . . 6:49:04 . . . 6:49:05 . . .

Alexi marveled as he watched Sergei work. He didn't have much to work with. Only the phone what Alexi had been able to pull out from the bathroom lights. He wasn't even sure if this could work but Sergei was one of the few people Alexi felt he could trust implicitly. _But then again, so was Dimitri._

Shaking the thought off, he kept himself positioned to block Sergei from the view of the guards. Sergei already had his back to them and Alexi suspected neither of the two men were employed by Paxton for their high IQ's, but he wasn't taking a chance.

Finally Sergei nodded and handed him the phone, careful which parts either of them touched. The two thugs glared at Alexi as he and Sergei walked over to them.

"What do you want?" The taller of the two thugs asked.

Alexi looked the man as straight in the eye as he could. "There's something about the disk we forgot to tell Paxton." He held up the phone. "I've been trying to call him but I can't get a signal. I'd like to try out in the hallway."

The thug looked at the phone, then at Alexi. "Give me that phone." He grunted.

Alexi recoiled, keeping his eye on the thug while Sergei and the other thug stared at each other.

"I said give me the phone!" He repeated louder, moving menacingly towards Alexi. A look of fear apparently washed over Alexi's face and he timidly handed over the phone.

The second the thug's hand touched it, he began convulsing as the electrical current went through his body. The moment the second thug took his eyes of Sergei, he pulled the pen from his pocket and thrust it into the thug's throat.

Alexi braced himself in front of the first thug. The shock from the phone was already wearing off, so Alexi immediately buried his own pen in his throat as well.

Alexi grinned as the two thugs collapsed to the floor, trying in vain to stopped the rush of blood spilling from their throats, before turning to Sergei. "Come on!"

Stepping over the two dying men, the opened the door and ran out into the hallway. Turning a corner, they rushed towards the stairwell . . .

. . . And right into the path of Paxton and Willem.

Paxton folded his arms. "Well, this is awkward." He stared down at the blood dripping from Alexi and Sergei's fingertips. "Now, if I go look in that office, am I going to see those two men dead?"

Alexi and Sergei said nothing.

Paxton sighed. "I'm really disappointed, Alexi. We had an agreement."

"Agreement." Alexi sneered. "You would kill us the second you were certain you didn't need us anymore."

Paxton narrowed his eyes. "No, actually. I wouldn't. You're probably not used to dealing with people who keep their word. But the fact is you held up your end of the bargain, and I had, and still have, every intention of doing the same."

Alexi stared at Paxton. "I'm supposed to believe I can trust you?"

Paxton stared back. "Yes, because I said before I know what greed can get you."

Alexi's posture seemed to relax slightly

Paxton looked down at Alexi and Sergei's still bloody hands. "But the fact is you just killed two of my men, and there has to be a penance for that."

The words had barely registered with Alexi when he heard the muffled shot of a handgun with a silencer. In his peripheral vision, he saw Sergei fall to the floor, Willem standing over him with the gun in his hands. Looking down, Alexi saw blood seeping from the bullet hole in Sergei's forehead. His eyes were still open, showing the shock he felt in his final moments.

Alexi struggled to control his breathing as he looked back at Paxton. "Eye for an eye." Paxton said quietly. "We have the disc but it'll probably take a few minutes to decode the information. Come on." He put a hand on the still-stunned Alexi leading him back the office.

Paxton looked back at Sergei's body, then at Willem and shrugged. "Well, I guess the carpet needed to be cleaned anyway."

6:55:13 . . . 6:55:14 . . . 6:55:15 . . . 6:55:16 . . .

Lily looked over at Patrick's screen. "What are you doing?"

Patrick glanced at her and sighed. "I'm trying to see if I can match up Marenkov's numbers with some mapping co-ordinates."

Lily rolled her eyes. "We tried that, remember. I didn't do any good."

Patrick looked at her. "It didn't do any good on the _new_ mapping system, but what if that's not the one Marenkov was going by?"

"The Russians have the same mapping system we do."

Patrick sighed again. "The Russian _government_ has the same mapping system, but Marenkov left them years ago. I'll bet a lot of his equipment wasn't state of the art."

Lily folded her arms. "Well, you're certainly thinking outside the box today, aren't you Patrick?" She asked, sarcastically.

Patrick stood up and glared at her. "Okay, you know what? I never asked you to check out what we were doing, and I'm still not sorry we did it."

"Yeah, that attitude's really gonna help you last around here." She sneered.

Patrick steeled himself. "I don't need you to worry about my career, Lily." He whispered harshly. "Now maybe helping Matt see Bauer might turn out to be a mistake, and if it is, I'll own up to that. But even if that's the case, it was still _my_ mistake to make!" He sat back down when he saw Michelle glance over at them.

Patrick turned his gaze back to the screen. "I got something! It's a bank just outside the city, in Ganton!"

Patrick looked up and was surprised to see George, Tony, and even Matt rushing over towards him. _Nice timing, Matt._ He thought.

Patrick looked back at the screen for an address as he heard George call to get a chopper ready.

Paxton looked at the address on the computer screen and grinned, before looking up at Willem and the still-shaken Alexi. "Everything looks fine on this end." He stood up and started towards the door. "Let's go find our bomb."

6:59:57 . . . 6:59:58 . . . 6:59:59 . . . 7:00:00 . . .

NEXT: As the race to beat Paxton and Alexi to the bomb continues, Matt and Tony debate giving Galina a chance to redeem herself while Alexi remains suspicious of Paxton, despite his assurances, causing him to consider taking drastic steps.


	10. 7:00 PM to 8:00 PM

_Author's note: Another delay but another long one to make up for it. In addition to leaving reviews, there's also a forum I've created for this story. Any questions or comments can also be left there. _

_24: Day 1.5_

_Previously in 24: Day 1.5 . . . _

_ALEXI LENKOVICH fatally wounded Andrei Marenkov and escaped with the apparent location of Marenkov's bomb, leaving his lover and Marenkov's daughter GALINA MARENKOV to be arrested while he escaped to reach his employer. While in custody at the COUNTER TERRORIST UNIT, Galina admitted that Alexi was working for a man named ALAN PAXTON, a former CTU agent believed killed. Marenkov's dying words to CTU agent MATT HARPER were the numbers "seven, one, eight, three, two." While CTU frantically searched for a possible meaning to these numbers, Harper sought out former CTU agent Jack Bauer, who had arrested Paxton for taking bribes, to gain an insight into the man. While he was doing this, Patrick at CTU managed to locate a bank whose coordinates matched Marenkov's numbers. Matt immediately headed out in pursuit, while Alexi and Paxton apparently headed out themselves..._

_The following takes place between 7:00 P.M. and 8:00 P.M._

**7:00:00 . . . 7:00:01 . . . 7:00:02 . . . 7:00:03 . . .**

As the helicopter took off from CTU, Matt looked over to McKinley, Baker and the other field agents. "All right, you all have descriptions of Paxton along with Lenkovich. It's very likely we'll run into them at the bank, in which case I want them taken alive. We still need to know who they're working for." Matt leaned over towards the pilot. "What's our ETA?"

"Ten minutes." The pilot answered.

Matt gave the field agents a stern look. "Paxton has to be working as a middle man for someone else. I want to find out who that is."

* * *

Mike Novick's gaze shot up as the phone rang.

"_Mr. Novick, it's Agent Clark._"

"Yeah, Walter. Go ahead."

"I think I may have a lead for you."

Mike nodded. "Glad to hear it. What have you got?"

"_I've managed to put a couple of Rudenko's aides with a couple of organizations known for of backing Alexi Lenkovich and others like him. It's not a direct link but it does cast suspicion on Rudenko."_

Mike raised an eyebrow. "So President Petrov was right. Good work, Walter."

"_There's more."_ Clark continued, solemnly. _"I've managed to link a few of Petrov's people to those same groups. I don't think either man is completely innocent in this matter. Whether either of them actually knew the extent of what's going on remains to be seen. I still have a couple of friends in the Kremlin, a couple of which deal directly with the President. I'm gonna call in some favors from them..."_

"Keep at it. We've got enough to deal with without our allies collaborating against us"

Clark sighed. "Agreed."

**7:09:11 . . . 7:09:12 . . . 7:09:13 . . . 7:09:14 . . .**

The moment the helicopter touched down, Matt was out with McKinley and Baker close behind. Entering the bank, they saw Eric Jackson, another field agent, watching intently over a middle-aged balding man, the bank's manager, along with a uniformed back security guard. They'd managed to catch a break and shown up on a day when the manager was working late. From the sulking look the guard was giving Jackson, Matt suspected Jackson had been forced to strong-arm the man a bit to get him to cooperate.

Jackson stepped out from behind a teller's table where the other two were standing to greet Matt and the other agents. His close-cropped hair, lean build, and hardened featured belied the friendly look he gave Matt when he saw him.

"Agent Harper, this is Mr. Henry Towns." he said, gesturing to the manager.

Matt pulled a computer pad out of his pocket. Pressing a few buttons, an image of the late General Andrei Marenkov appeared on the screen. "Mr. Towns, have you had any dealings with this man?"

Towns studied the image for a moment, then looked up nervously. "Yes, he was in here yesterday; Mr. Mikel Rozhenko. He had an item stored in one of our safety deposit boxes. It was some sort of data device as I recall. A rather strange thing to put in a safety deposit box, if you ask me."

Matt nodded. "Mr. Towns, we need you to open that box for us."

Towns started towards the vault, looking very confused. "Of course. Do you mind my asking what this is all about? Has he done something wrong?"

Matt sighed. "Not exactly, but I can tell you that what's on that device may be vital to national security. The man you were dealing with was not he said he was. He's dead now and that device may be the only source left to some vital information he was possessing."

Towns continued towards the vault, his demeanor appearing even more nervous

* * *

Inside the vault, Towns pulled out a large cylindrical key from his coat pocked. Inserting it in the slot in a terminal on the wall, he turned it as he punched something in on a keypad.

"We've recently added a new security procedure for high-value deposit boxes like the one he was using. Access to these boxes requires both the key and a password. Mr. Rozhenko... or whoever he was, chose it. We were the only two who knew it."

As soon as Towns had finished entering the password, a short dull buzzing noise emerged from the terminal, while the words ACCESS DENIED appeared on the screen.

Towns frowned and re-entered the password. The buzzing noise sounded again. "That's odd. The password doesn't seem to be working."

Matt narrowed his eyes and looked at Towns. "What? Are you sure you're entering the right password?"

"I'm positive. When the password is chosen, the computer requires double confirmation of the password to prevent any mistakes. I assured you, I'm putting in the right password for his box."

Matt headed over the door of the vault and leaned out until he could see McKinley.

"We're having a problem with the vault security system. You'd better get Sanchez in here."

"Right." McKinley called back.

Matt stared back at the terminal with frustration, wondering if someone else had left some surprise for them.

**7:22:31 . . . 7:22:32 . . . 7:22:33 . . . 7:22:34 . . .**

As Agent Nikolai Torumov paced the hallways of CTU, he never thought he'd actually miss infiltrating Alexi's inner circle. _At least there I was doing some good._ He was gratified he'd been able to save Agent Harper and his son, but that had soon given way to tedium and frustration.

So far Harper had proven himself competent enough but the conduct of his colleagues toward Nikolai was baffling. He'd infiltrated Alexi's organization for nearly two years. He'd seen Alexi commit despicable acts, such as ordering Marenkov to murder his driver, and slitting that young programmer's throat. He'd been disgusted by what he'd seen but managed to hide it by reminding himself of the greater good. Now it seemed everyone else had forgotten that.

They wouldn't even know Alexi had been trying to get a nuclear weapon if it wasn't for him. They should be debriefing him as thoroughly as possible _Instead that fool Mason has had we waiting out here like a schoolboy being punished._

Nikolai was almost relieved to have his train of thought interrupted when his phone rang. That changed, however, as soon as he heard the voice on the other end.

"_Nikolai, I hope you haven't forgotten us."_ Agent Natalya Tenyakova said.

"I have not, despite my best efforts." Nikolai sneered.

"_I suggest you find a different tone, Nikolai."_ His FSB counterpart retorted. _"You are to report back to our Los Angeles office immediately. Our superiors have decided you've been a guest of CTU long enough."_

"What about Galina Marenkov? She's still in custody here."

"_That will be settled between our office and theirs. It is no longer any concern of yours. If I were you, I would be more concerned with explaining your failure to follow orders."_

"You mean your orders to do nothing while your man planned to kill Marenkov and a CTU agent?" Nikolai hissed. "Marenkov's blood is your hands."

"_Marenkov was a traitor and an arms dealer. I will lose no sleep over him."_

"It was my job to bring both him and Alexi in alive. If not for what you have done, Marenkov would be telling us where his weapons cache is right now and we would not need to worry about it falling into the hands of Alexi or some terrorist. Can you still sleep with that?"

There was a brief pause. _"Just get back here now."_ she answered curtly before hanging up.

The slight satisfaction Nikolai felt at making his point soon gave way to concern as he assessed his situation. Somebody was going to have to pay for the embarrassment their office had suffered today and unfortunately Natalya likely wasn't going to be that someone. Not as long as she had him as a scapegoat.

_My career is over_, he thought. Ultimately, saving a child, two years of undercover work and nearly fifteen years of loyal service to his agency meant very little when someone was required to take the blame. For some reason, he was reminded of something he'd once heard an American man say years ago: _"No good deed goes unpunished."_

_If today is any indication, that's all too true._

**7:31:40 . . . 7:31:41 . . . 7:31:42 . . . 7:31:43 . . .**

Agent Hector Sanchez frowned in thought as he looked at the terminal, while Matt, McKinley, Baker, and Towns looked on.

"Yeah, somebody's done some major reprogramming to this system. They've actually managed to encrypt access to Marenkov's deposit. Fairly recently too; couldn't be more than seven or eight hours ago." Sanchez punched in a few more keys on the pad. "I think we might be able to– whoa!" Sanchez instinctively recoiled back as the screen suddenly went dark. A moment later text appeared on the screen reading 'GALINA WILL KNOW THE CODE'

Sanchez squinted in confusion at the screen while Baker looked over at Matt. "Galina? Galina Marenkov? Did she encrypt the system?"

Matt shook his head. "I don't think so. There's nothing in her background that indicates she's capable of something like this. And if she had access to the vault, Alexi Lenkovich would already have the contents." He looked around at the other agents. "It must have been her father."

"What do you mean?" McKinley asked.

"If this was where Andrei Marenkov was hiding his information, it makes sense that he'd have someone watching over it until he turned it over to us. He probably had one of his people work here as an employee." He turned to Towns. "How many new people have you hired in the last few days or weeks?"

Towns paused a moment, then looked up at him. "Nine, but only seven of them have access to the vault and only five of those were working today."

"One of them must have been working for Marenkov." Matt looked down for a moment in thought. "Everything he did in the last few hours of his life was about trying to save his daughter when he thought she was in danger. If CTU managed to get hold of him first, he wouldn't have been able to do that. He must have called his contact at the bank and have them encrypt access to his deposit at some point after Alexi contacted him. It must have been a sort of failsafe, to make sure we'd have to rescue his daughter if we managed to catch him first."

"In the end, it was pointless." Baker shook his head solemnly. "He never knew his daughter was working for Alexi."

"So what now?" McKinley asked. "Do we bring in the bank employees, find out which one of them encrypted the system?"

Matt shook his head. "Whoever did it is probably long gone by now, and we don't have time to look for them or to try to break through these locks. Our only chance now is to do what the message says: Get the code from Galina."

"You really think we can trust her?" Baker asked.

"I think she's had a wake up call since she saw her father get murdered." Matt said. "In any case, we don't have a choice. Alexi Lenkovich or Alan Paxton are probably still after what's in that deposit box and rather take away their reason to be here."

Baker looked at Matt with surprise. "You really think they'd try to hit the bank while we're here? That'd be a pretty big risk."

"Well this," Matt said, point his thumb at the vault, "is a pretty big reward. Big enough that they've killed a lot of agents today to get it already; and big enough that the people they're working for probably won't tolerate them coming back empty-handed."

The other agents nodded as Matt picked up his phone. "George?" He said. "You're not going to believe this."

**7:38:16 . . . 7:38:17 . . . 7:38:18 . . . 7:38:19 . . .**

Nikolai rushed over to George and Tony. "What's going on?" He said. "I just heard you're moving Galina Marenkov?"

Tony sighed. "We've found her father's information at a bank but somehow he managed to encrypt access to his deposit box. We think she might know the code." George shot Tony a look of disapproval. Clearly he wasn't as eager to volunteer information

Nikolai raised an eyebrow. "And you think you can just trust her to cooperate?"

George sighed impatiently. "Well right now, we don't exactly have a whole lot of options and last time I checked we didn't need to run decisions by you anyway."

"Perhaps not, but I'm coming with you."

"Your boss just tried to have one of by people killed and was partly responsible for the death of Andrei Marenkov. If you think I'm letting anyone from your office into the field with my men or Galina--"

"Agent Tenyakova's actions were not authorized and my superiors will discipline her accordingly. In any event, being an accomplice of Alexi Lenkovich, Galina is accessory to crimes against the Russian people. If you are taking her into the field, I will be coming along to ensure her safety. Unless you would rather I told my superiors you have refused me, in which case they would soon be speaking to _your_ superiors."

Nikolai was a good liar. It was an essential trait in undercover work. Bluffs on the other hand were a risk, no matter how good a liar someone was. Nikolai felt confident enough that he knew this man. _This Mason is a bureaucrat. And no bureaucrat wants to be at the center of such a fiasco._

George rolled his eyes and Nikolai resisted the urge to smile. "The chopper leaves in five minutes, with or without you."

Nikolai steeled himself. "I want a moment to speak to her as well." He was pushing his luck, but since he had nothing to lose, it didn't seem to matter.

Again, George's eyes rolled. "Two minutes, and Agent Almeida here's in the room with you."

Nikolai gave the most ambivalent-looking shrug he could come up with. "Fine."

* * *

Galina's look of indifference when she saw Tony walk in was replaced with one of surprise when she saw Nikolai follow him.

"Dimitri? So now you have changed sides as well?"

Nikolai's face remained impassive. "I was never on your side to begin with. My name is Agent Nikolai Torumov of FSB. My job was to infiltrate Alexi's organization and learn all I could about his operation."

Galina gave him a neutral stare.

Nikolai sighed. "You're being moved. We've found the bank where your father kept the location of the bomb, but he managed to encrypt access to his deposit box. We think you may know the code so you being taken there to access it before Alexi and Paxton have a chance to get at it"

"Is that so?"

Nikolai raised an eyebrow. "You have a problem with that?"

Galina crossed her legs, straightened her skirt, and continued to stare. "Clearly I have no choice so what does it matter what I think?"

Tony folded his arms. "It matters because the possibility of you betraying us to Alexi is something we have to consider."

Galina turned her gaze to Tony, then back to Nikolai. "Then let me reassure you. As much as I hated my father, I never wanted him dead. So any opportunity to hurt Alexi is one I will take. Does that make you feel better?"

"We'll see." Nikolai answered, pulling her up firmly by the arm. "Come on. The helicopter should be ready."

**7:44:51 . . . 7:44:52 . . . 7:44:53 . . . 7:44:54 . . .**

At the back of the van, Alexi stared over at Willem in the passenger seat. "Frankly, with so many men, I wonder why Paxton bothered to bring me along" He gestured to the nine other heavily- armed men in the van, then at the van in front of them, which carried another ten.

Willem turned around to Alexi. "CTU's probably crawling over that bank by now. We're going to need every man we can get." The taller man gave Alexi a smile that was anything but comforting. "Besides, Paxton wanted to keep an eye on you."

Alexi responded with a glare.

**7:49:34 . . . 7:49:35 . . . 7:49:36 . . . 7:49:37 . . .**

Matt, McKinley, and Baker, rushed out as the helicopter touched down. As Galina and Nikolai stepped out, they were rushed into the bank. "Come on, we'd better hurry." As they headed through the hall, he turned to Agent Jackson. "I want those two escorted out of here." He said, gesturing to Towns and the bank guard.

"Wait a minute!" Towns called out. "You don't think there's going to a be shoot-out or something here, do you?"

Matt sighed. "Mr. Towns, I don't know what's going to happen, but I'd feel better if you were a safe distance from here."

Matt and the two Russians hurried down the hallway, and into the vault where Agent Sanchez was already waiting. "All right, what have you got for me?" Sanchez asked.

Matt looked at Galina. "Come on, we don't have much time."

Galina stared at the terminal, then at Sanchez. "Try this: seven, one, eight, three, two."

Matt shook his head. "No, that was the coordinates for the bank on the old mapping system your father used. It doesn't mean anything else."

Galina gave Matt an impatient look. "It was also an old clearance code from early in his army career. My father was slightly superstitious. He thought it was good luck and looked for opportunities to use it. That's probably why he picked this bank."

Matt turned back to Sanchez, who shrugged and entered the code.

A buzzing sound emerged, and for a second, Matt thought that Marenkov had left some other surprise in the system, like a bomb. Fortunately, one of the smaller deposit boxes slid out from the wall and opened. _So that's what Marenkov meant when he said those numbers,_ Matt thought.

The four looked over and saw a digital device inside. _So it's finally over,_ Matt thought.

Sanchez looked at Matt. "Should I try to access the data here?"

Matt shook his head. "No, we'd better wait until we get it back to CTU. They're better equipped to--" The end of his sentence was drowned out and a thunder of gunfire erupted from down the hall, interrupted briefly by cries of pain.

"Get down!" Matt yelled, grabbing the device as the four of them ducked behind a wall. "McKinley, come in!" Matt yelled into his communicator. "What's happening?"

"_We've got at least a dozen heavily-armed hostiles!"_ McKinley's voice responded. _"Connelly and Parker are dead. They've got us pinned down behind the desks. We're keeping them from advancing on your position but I don't know how much longer we can hold them off. I've already called for back-up but they may not get here in time."_

"Understood." Matt answered before looking up at the others. "We've got to get out of here."

Sanchez looked over at the vault door. "There's a fire exit at the back."

Matt nodded. "I know, but they probably have people waiting in case someone runs out."

"What about closing the vault door and sealing ourselves in until help comes?" Nikolai asked.

"If I were them, I would've brought something to blast open the vault door in case someone tried that." Matt said. "We can't count on that. We'll go for the fire door and clear any hostiles." He slapped the device into Nikolai's hand. "If any hostiles reach you first, shoot the device. At least they won't get what they came for."

Nikolai nodded solemnly as Matt and Sanchez headed out of the vault and down the hallway, before looking back at Galina.

"It's very likely Alexi will get what he came here for, no matter what we do, but I've sacrificed too much to let him win now. So I need to know how truthful you were with me earlier. How far will you go to stop him?"

Galina stared back at him with suspicion.

* * *

Matt crept up to the hall corner just close enough to see two men standing near the door. Damn, he thought, they must have blown open the back door.

Looking over at Sanchez for a moment, he quietly conveyed an attack move with his hands until Sanchez nodded in acknowledgment. A moment later, the two agents dove around the corner, guns firing. The two thugs went down instantly.

Their victory was short-lived however. A hail of bullets from the side caught Sanchez in the head. He was dead before he hit the ground.

Matt spun around to see Alexi, one hand on an Uzi directed at Matt, another gripping the bank manager Henry Towns. "Hello again, Agent Harper." Alexi sneered. "Drop your weapon."

At the end of the hallway, Matt saw the bodies of the bank guard and Agent Jackson, both probably having died trying to protect the manager. Matt didn't move, keeping his gun trained on the man. "Let him go, Alexi!"

Alexi slowly turned his weapon towards his hostage, pressing the barrel against Towns' head, Towns winced in pain and fear, his breathing heavy. "You know I'll do it." Alexi hissed.

Matt gritted his teeth in realization that this was true. Slowly Matt crouched down, placing his sidearm on the floor.

Alexi gestured to a supply room off to Matt's side. "Into the closet, now!" He barked.

The moment Matt stepped into the room, Alexi pushed the door shut. From inside, Matt could hear him ordering Towns to pick up Matt's gun and place it through the handle loop, blocking the door shut.

"Thank you for co-operation, Agent Harper!" Alexi called out through the door. "_Do svidanya!_" A second later, he heard a shot, followed quickly by Towns' death scream.

"Nooooo!" Matt screamed as he heard Alexi's footsteps hurry off in the direction of the vault.

Matt frantically looked around the supply room for something to force the door open. His eyes darted around the room until the came to rest on a fire extinguisher.

* * *

The second he heard screaming from the back end of the hallway, Nikolai set the device on the floor, pressed his gun against it, and squeezed the trigger twice.

A moment later Alexi rushed in, immediately training his gun on Nikolai and Galina.

"Well, I certainly did not expect to find the two of you here. It is a welcome surprise however. Drop the gun."

Nikolai slowly set his gun next to the damaged data device. "You're too late. I've destroyed the drive and any information Marenkov had in it. It doesn't matter what you do now."

Before Alexi could respond, Galina grabbed both the device and gun, training the latter on Nikolai as she stood up.

"He's lying, Alexi." She said, staring at him. "You can still recovered the data with the right equipment. We can still do this."

Alexi kept his gun trained on her. "You were the one telling me this venture was to dangerous, now you say we should finish it?"

Galina's gaze never wavered. "It _was_ dangerous. But now we have what we were trying to get. We should take this opportunity while we have it."

Nikolai glared up at Galina. "So after all your promises, you show your true colors. You're as bad as he is."

Alexi squinted his eyes in suspicion. "You were working with them. Why should I trust anything you say?"

Galina looked at Alexi for a moment in silence, then turned back to Nikolai. She looked at the crouching agent for moment, apparently contemplating something... then squeezed off two rounds into Nikolai's back.

* * *

Crouching behind one of the teller's desk, several mercenaries flanking him, the realization of his situation quietly passed through Paxton's mind. He'd been in numerous situations similar to this, but on this other side. He recognized McKinley, Baker, and few others still getting off shots. A year and a half ago, the idea of firing mercilessly on his fellow agents, most of which he knew personally would have been unthinkable. It didn't change his motivation in the least, but the irony wasn't lost on him.

What did concern him was how long he could hold out. Though his people outnumbered the CTU team at least two to one, it was clear the agents were the superior soldiers, having taken out half the mercenaries already. _Plus there's no doubt that they have back-up already on the way._

Just as this troubling revelation came to him, a crackling voice emerged through the radio. "_This is Alexi. I have the data. Repeat; I have the data._"

Paxton wasted no time. "Everyone fall back to the first positions, now!" He yelled, jumping up and heading towards the vans.

* * *

With one final strike of the fire extinguisher, the door finally cracked open. Picking up his fallen weapon he rushed back to back to the vault. The only person left was Nikolai, slumped in a growing pool of his own blood.

He was still breathing, barely. Matt tried not to think about the similarities to the other Russian he'd seen die three hours earlier.

"This is Harper, I have a man down! I need medical assistance now!" He yelled into his radio before looking down at Nikolai and gripping his hand. "Hang on. Just hang on. We'll find them, I promise you."

"_Nyet._" Nikolai rasped. "It's all right. I told her to this."

_You told Galina to shoot you?_ The idea was too unbelievable for Matt to even say. "What? What are you talking about?"

"It was the only way for her to gain Alexi's trust. I destroyed the device first. It will take them hours to recover the data. By then she'll have led you straight to him and Paxton..."

Before Matt could get a word in, Nikolai slumped to the floor and lay still.

* * *

As the last of the mercenaries piled into one of the vans, Paxton and Willem glared as they saw Alexi rushing towards the van with a woman in tow.

"Who the hell is this?" Paxton asked coldly.

"A friend." Alexi answered climbing into the back of the van. "I'll explain on the way, but we have to go now!"

The climbed in and the van sped off. Alexi didn't notice that Galina never took her eyes off him for a second.

* * *

"Mr. President." Mike said, rushing into the Oval Office.

President Palmer looked up. "Mike, good. Is there any news yet on CTU's search for the weapons data?"

Mike shook his head. "Not yet, but there's something else. We just got an intelligence report from Moscow. Leonid Rudenko, the Russian Prime Minister; he's dead. We don't know the details yet but the initial report points to him being assassinated."

Palmer leaned back in his chair, too stunned to speak.

**7:59:57 . . . 7:59:58 . . . 7:59:59 . . . 8:00:00 . . .**

NEXT: While Galina tries to keep close to Alexi and avoid Paxton's suspicions, Palmer and Mike face a political dilemma when they trace the Prime Minister's assassination back to it's source.


End file.
